Pieces of Treasure

More Knitting

2009-09-13T12:35:00.003-04:00

More knitting! I have expanded to using circular needles and stitch markers and am working on my very first knitted shawl. It's this pattern, called Mara and I'm working it in the lovely yarn seen below. It is MadelineTosh tosh worsted in Windowpane, purchased at Eat, Sleep, Knit. Oh so soft and pretty subtle color changes. This is too much fun! Although I had to re-start the shawl four times until I got the hang of the increases in the center but it's moving along now.

But what about quilting you say? Yep, still doing that as well. I'm working on a pink and apple green small quilt for a friend's grand daughter. No pictures yet, maybe in a day or so. And I'm also working on LeMoyne stars for a Jo Morton group swap. More on that later.

2009-08-25T20:32:00.003-04:00

Two posts in less than a week? Wow...better sit down :-)

Today's post is prompted by the goodies that arrived on my doorstep. See below for the lovelies that came today from Eat, Sleep, Knit. I can tell this is going to be a favorite new place to shop. This is "John B", the variegated, from Claudia Hand Painted Yarns and the remainder of Pima Petite in grass green, strawberry and chili from The Unique Sheep...lovely Peruvian cotton! Oh I just love cotton...witness my love of cotton fabrics!

Here are my first knitting attempts, both using Lily's Sugar & Cream cotton yarns. The little yellow dish cloth (yes, that's what it is!) is my very first completed knitted object since childhood. I know I have a lot to learn but it's been great fun so far.

And finally, just because...Peanut Butter sleeping in his favorite chair on his favorite pillow. Or rather, he would be asleep if I would just go away with that flashy thing!

Back again???

2009-08-23T20:13:00.002-04:00

Hmph...so much for being back in April! I should probably not mention illnesses as they seem to proliferate just when I think we are settling down again.

Oh well, let's try this again. I've been doing some quilting this summer. Not as much as I would like but I will have pictures of my accomplishments soon.

Recently I've also picked up knitting. I had always had trouble with knitting, I just wasn't fast enough. You see, my other grandma (my non-quilting grandma) taught me how to crochet when I was about 10 and I've always been a lot faster with crochet. I would get so frustrated when I tried to knit. My mother knit, she used to make us the cutest booties every winter, kept my toesies nice a warm! But she couldn't crochet so we were even. However, over the last years I've noted the upswing in knitting and loved the cute scarves/socks/sweaters I was seeing others make. Sooooo, I bought a set of needles and some cotton yarn and checked out You Tube knitting instruction videos and away I went. I now have one cute little dishcloth and the makings of a larger dish towel. I've also done quite a bit of crochet in between as well. Making more dish clothes and towels in crochet. It's been fun, mindless, stress-relieving. And of course, all those pretty yarns!!!

Oh well, perhaps I'll win the lottery and be able to retire and then I can quilt, crochet, knit...to my hearts content.

Hey, does anyone know how to make lace...bobbin lace in particular? That's another thing I've always wanted to learn how to do!!!

eeeekkk...stop me before i go crazy!

2009-04-25T16:36:00.002-04:00

Just a quick note....I'm coming back! It's been a wild ride these past few months. Health issues, hospitalizations, surgeries for me and family members, work issues, and other family matters all while trying to get organized from the move. In the middle of it all, last October my sweetie's daughter called, needing a place to stay until she could get on her feet again. What could I say? I couldn't leave her out in the cold so my sewing room has become her room and quilting came to a standstill.

I have finally found a way to meet my needs for quilting (my stress relief!) so I can begin again to meet previous obligations and get quilting agian. No pictures to share today - need to find my camera cord - or rather retrieve it from the "stepdaughter" (she's started calling me stepmom even though it's not "official"!)

More later....looking forward to getting back in the swing of things with everyone.

Ain't Packing Fun!?

2008-07-05T19:46:00.002-04:00

Just a quick update with no pictures because my house is in chaos! No, I'm not packing to go on vacation (sure wish I were though) but rather to move! My landlord has sold the property to developers and our lease has been cancelled so I have until the end of the month to find a new home and move! I knew it was probably going to happen eventually, all of the other small apartments in this area have been sold over the years and replaced with either monster condo complexes or McMansions. Our landlord held out for a very long time but I guess the money offered was too good to turn down and so I've been spending the last week looking for a new home. I found an adorable little house, still relatively close to work and has a perfect room for a quilting studio, I should know next week if we are going to get it.

So my friends, I'll be absent from my blog for a few weeks until I get through the largest part of this mess. I see it is close to my first blogaversary (how does one spell that anyway?) so maybe once I get settled I can host a little giveaway (and finish my PIF that is still due!)

So TTFN! Be back soon....

Treasured Memories

2008-06-21T20:11:00.004-04:00

It's been a sad few days in my family. The sweet little baby in this picture is my Aunt Catherine, my Dad's oldest sister, with my beloved Grandmother. Mary Catherine was her first child. This week, 74 years after this picture was taken the little baby went home to be with her mom and dad. With this picture and many more I have many treasured memories of my dear aunt. I remember my Mom and I going with her to quilting bees at the church and I would sit at the corner of the frame listening and watching. Memories of our families camping out, fishing and going to the races. Big sister and baby brother (my Dad) were always very close so this has been difficult for him, for us all. But despite the sadness, there is no more pain and for that I am grateful.

Thank goodness for air conditioning!

2008-06-07T22:23:00.004-04:00

Today was another quilting day at the park and I should have known it was going to be fun when I got in Petey, my PT Cruiser, and saw the temperature was 96 degrees already! ACK! And here I am in a long sleeved, high necked, floor length dress and I'm going to sit outside and quilt for four hours. All I can say is I'm sure glad I didn't get my new dress finished because I have plans for at least one petticoat for that dress. I don't have a petticoat for the old dress so at least it's only one layer of cotton! And you are asking why am I sitting outside to quilt? Normally I sit outside on one of the porches or at the cook house but the houses are air conditioned...well they are supposed to be! I do have a couple of spots inside that I can quilt if the weather is bad but the air conditioning system was not working today so it was just as hot if not hotter inside! So, I sat on the lower porch, in the shade, with a hand fan and bottle of water (discreetly hidden) and quilted to my hearts content while visiting with our guests (and praying for a breeze!).

You've seen some pictures taken of the garden and cook house in a previous post but here is a picture of the main house, the Dickey House, built in 1840 originally on land in Dickey Georgia, near Albany but moved to the park in 1960 and restored. It is a beautiful house. I'll have to go out one day when I'm not supposed to be quilting and get some pictures inside.

I usually sit on the lower porch in one of these beautiful white iron chairs. They are a heavy cast iron but surprisingly quite comforatable. Here is my small quilt challenge on one of the chairs.

These curved brick stairs are one of my favorite features of the house, they are called "Welcoming Arms" stairs as they curve around the porch, like arms welcoming you home. They also serve as a nice backdrop for quilts too, don't you think?

I pieced this pink and brown star quilt at the park in the past couple of years but I haven't taken a good picture of it yet. I wanted to hang it from the top porch but there was no one there to help me today...so the stairs will have to do for now! It is just a top, ready to be quilted but waiting for winter when it's cooler!

When I finished quilting for the day and got back into Petey, the temperature read at 99 degrees! Whew...all I can say is thank goodness for air conditioning.

Small Quilt Challenge

2008-06-01T12:21:00.004-04:00

Back to the present...here is my latest finish. I'm a member of a YahooGroup "SmallQuiltTalk" started by Kathleen Tracy, author of the books American Doll Quilts and Prairie Children and Their Quilts. The group is new and Kathy is posting periodic challenges to the group to make a small quilt using a specific pattern and suggested colors. The challenges are really not strict but rather an opportunity to play with patterns and color and perhaps challenge ourselves to do something new. The first challenge deadline was May 28. The colors to use were pink, blue, and green. Although I have all of those colors in my stash and have no problems using them in quilts I really did have a problem getting started on this challenge! In fact, I had decided not to do this challenge. But I kept playing with fabrics until I found four that I thought played well together and off I went. This is probably the quickest I've ever done a quilt, I started on May 16 and finished the binding on May 28 - all hand pieced, hand quilted and bound. It's not perfect but I love it! I need to block it and get a better picture in daylight but for now here is another addition to my future little quilt wall.

All of the quilts that others made were wonderful and each one is very different. It's amazing how the same pattern and color palette can result in such different quilts. If you like to make small quilts please check out the group. The next challenge is not due until the end of July.

Four Seasons Quilt Swap

2008-05-25T16:26:00.003-04:00

Well, I've gone and done it now. I've enjoyed following along with the Spring swaps in the Four Seasons Quilt Swap and just couldn't resist signing up for the Summer swap. Summer is my favorite season and I am having so much fun making my little quilts that I thought to myself...self, you can do this...and so I did! Well, I did join at least, now I have a little summer quilt to make!

Today I received the email telling me who I'm making a quilt for and I've had a good time reading their blog and getting to know them a little bit. Oh the ideas are swirling around in my head already! This is going to be fun!

And just to share a little bit of summer, here are some quilts I made years ago. The little sunflower is from a "buttons & plaid" challenge from my quilt guild about 11-12 years ago. It hangs in my kitchen now.

The next one is one of my personal favorites, it hangs in my hallway all the time. It is "Bill & Sue's Miracle Gro Garden". Miracle Gro since the flowers are larger than Bill and Sue! For those who don't know "Miracle Gro" is the brand name of a variety of gardening products including plant foods, fertilizers, etc. I've always loved the little Sunbonnet Sue/Dutch Doll quilts. This one was made in 1996.Someday I'll share my very first quilting adventure, a little Dutch Doll pillow top made when I was 9 years old, with the help of my precious Grandma. And along with that I'll share the Dutch Doll quilt she made for me many years later - obviously my most precious treasure.

And last is a basket quilt made in 1993/94. This is made from fabric from the first quilt shop I ever visited. It was a new shop in Chattanooga, the only quilt shop there at the time and while I had been quilting for quite a while, I had always used either scraps from my Grandmother's scrap bag or fabrics from Hancock's (the chain, not the Paducah Hancock's) or other local fabric stores.

Just a touch of my quilting history today. I have more to report on my current little quilts progress and will share that tomorrow I hope!

Thanks for visiting!

I have returned!

2008-05-20T22:37:00.004-04:00

First, let me thank you all who sent good wishes for my Dad in his surgery. He is doing well, healing nicely and running my mother ragged! But that is nothing new :-) and she is doing well too.

I didn't get to do as much quilting as I had hoped but I do have one finish to report! Yes, the Little Bow Ties is completely done, quilted, bound, and labeled. Some of the chalk marks are still showing but they will go away. Here it is pictured on the old chair at the park - picture taken this past Saturday.

I'm about 2/3 done quilting Frosty & Fries and hope to finish that one this weekend. I also made a decision about borders on the 1930s Basketweave little quilt - yep, I added the borders and I'm glad I did. It seems to add that finishing touch. It will be the next piece in the little quilting hoop.

And finally, I thought I would share some more pictures from my quilting at the park this past weekend. Sunday I sat in the garden behind the cook house quilting - here is my little set up followed by some pictures of plants in the garden itself. It is such a lovely, peaceful place and I'm finally getting the hang of the macro on my little digital camera!

I can't show you what I was working on at the park this weekend yet. It's for a challenge that is due at the end of the month and I want to finish it completely before I show it off! So stay tuned next week!

More Little Quilts

2008-05-09T23:19:00.004-04:00

I'm really getting into a groove with these little quilts. I've been enjoying reading a couple of books recently purchased on Amazon.com, in particular the following book:

There are many lovely quilts in this book covering the generations of one family. This one in particular really leaped off the page at me. I love Depression Era quilts and I thought this was a particulary lovely pattern.

I think I would love to do this as a bed quilt some day but thought I would start small first! This was so much fun to do! Again, all hand pieced, 1.5 inch squares.

I can't decide whether to add the plain border around this little one or not. I think I like the idea of stopping here, quilting it and bringing the back to the front for the binding. This is the way my Grandmother bound all of her quilts and it's the way I learned first.

So, now I have to finish the quilting on my Little Bow Ties, just need to finish the border, and then I have Frosty and Fries to quilt and this one. I'm heading off to my parents this weekend for a few days while my Dad has surgery. I'll have plenty of time waiting around in waiting rooms so I'm taking these to quilt while I'm there. I'll probably take a little piecing as well, it's not like I don't have any to do! Hopefully I'll have three little quilts finished to report when I return.

To all the mothers out there I wish you a very Happy Mother's Day! My furry kids "gave" me a lovely little Vera Bradley Pink Elephant wallet for my present! How sweet of them...tee hee hee...

Frosty and Fries Please...

2008-05-02T20:29:00.003-04:00

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted! It's been busy, busy, busy here Casa Debbie. I've been busy doing some handpiecing and haven't had time for much of anything else. Why, you ask? Well, a certain sweet little dollie has been longing for a quilt of her own. And how could you resist this face!

I mean really! She seems to like her comfy spot on the bed but it has been getting a bit chilly at night and the big quilts just smother her. So...what to do? Make a little quilt of course! And that's what I've been doing for the last week - it still needs to be quilted but here is the top, entirely hand pieced, measuring about 17 x 19.

She seems to like it, don't you think? She tells me polka dots are her favorite.

Okay, I know what you are thinking. So what does this have to do with a Frosty and Fries??? Well, that's the name of the quilt!

Huh? Okay, to try to make a long story short... For those who have never heard of the chain of fast food restaurants known as Wendy's, they have a dessert that is like a really thick milkshake, called a Frosty. You really do need a spoon to eat it. One of my very favorite guilty pleasures is to have a small Frosty with french fries - you dip the fry in the Frosty and eat them together...yummy! May sound strange I know but it's a great combination of sweet and salty. As for how the quilt came to be so named it is because Sweetie and I were having a conversation one evening about sweet and salty flavors and how well they worked together. He has never enjoyed a Frosty and Fries!!! Poor boy has lived a deprived life. Needless to say we will be enjoying one soon. Anyway, as I was working on this little top during that conversation we began to joke that this quilt would be called "Frosty and Fries" and so it is...

Certifiable?

2008-04-21T21:46:00.002-04:00

And now for something different...

Now that the Inklingo hexagons are pieced and the Little Bow Tie is being quilted, are you wondering what is in my little hand stitching tin? Well, maybe not but I couldn't stand for my little tin to be empty so what else to do? Do you remember this picture? Of course you do!

And here it is ... filled with little tiny half inch hexagons on their way to becoming a version of the lovely quilt in the above picture (this is in Australian Patchwork and Quilting, Vol 16, No 6, February 2008 by the way). They call it Insanity but I am sane, truly I am!

I decided to pull from my abundant stash of 1930s reproductions and related prints. I'm using unbleached muslin for the background and either a blue or green solid instead of the salmon pink border in the original. Needless to say, this will be a very long term project. But it's perfect for my little take along tin!

So that's my story and I'm sticking to it...I'm not insane, I'm just a quilter!

A Pieceful Day

2008-04-20T19:12:00.003-04:00

For several years now I've demonstrated quilting at a local antebellum plantation one or two days a month during the warmer months (spring/summer/fall). Today was my first day for this season. The weather was perfect and it was not very busy so I was able to spend some nice quiet time just quilting. I was able to get a lot of handquilting done on the Little Bow Ties. It looks a bit wonky in the picture but it's just the angle I was shooting, it really is straight! I thought this old, worn chair made a good backdrop.

And just for more pictures, here is a four patch quilt I made several years ago at the plantation. I liked the way it looked on the chair. The next picture is on the curved steps of the main house.

And finally, here is a shot of my Circles top on the grass. I want to add a couple of borders but I don't know what yet. Perhaps a solid border first then some other pieced blocks. Any suggestions?

And yes, I do dress in antebellum costume (working dress, no hoops!) but I have a great time sitting on the porch, talking to people, and doing my handwork all at the same time!

An Introduction

2008-04-19T19:37:00.004-04:00

Please allow me to introduce you to a new member of the family! She arrived this week after a long cross country journey. At first she was a little shy in her traveling cloak but when she learned we have many things in common she was quite ready to come out and play.

Meet Dottie Ann, Dorothy Ann to be more precise but she prefers Dottie. A fine name for a newly arrived Southern Belle.

She comes with her own heart cookie cutter so I predict some cookie baking in the near future.

Isn't she adorable? I've seen many of her friends on different blogs that I visit and knew I had to have one. You can find out more at Raggedy Old Annies and on Nicole's blog.

Only thing is, Dottie Ann needs a quilt of her own! Stay tuned....

Day 2 Quiltathon

2008-04-13T15:31:00.003-04:00

I didn't get a chance to post again last night but this where I stand with the hexagon quilt. I've decided to make it a rectangle instead of square and so two corners are now done. Yes, that leaves a lot of "open" space but I have plans! I also plan to add a solid border of one of the reds in the center. The majority of the fabrics in the center are from Judy Rothermel's Civil War Classics line and I really love those reds! So, I just need to finish off the other two corners and then do the border. It has not yet been pressed so it's a bit wrinkly in this picture. It's different but I like it!

Notice I also found a place to hang it up for a picture! This is pinned to a small wall quilt I have hanging in my hallway. It's a narrow space so I won't be able to hang large tops here to photograph but it will work for smaller items. And speaking of smaller items....Ta Da! Here is the little bow tie with my final border choice. Yes, I went with my first instinct of choice number one. This is also a Jo Morton fabric. Now I just need to baste and quilt it!

In case you are wondering, yes, that is a mirror below the hexagon quilt above. It is a very heavy antique mirror that I've had for years but it's too heavy to hang here so it sits against the wall in the hall. I would show more of it but I just realized it really needs a good cleaning....oops!

Well, Sweetie has a pot of chili cooking and I think I'll take a break and have a late lunch, early supper before getting back to the next project!

Thanks for stopping by and a big thanks to those who commented and helped me decide how to complete these quilts!

Another Quiltathon Weekend!

2008-04-12T13:29:00.004-04:00

This is just a quick post to update on my progress in this weekend's Quiltathon. Luckily I only have a few small chores to do so I can spend the weekend quilting to my little hearts content. Here I'm posting an update on the Inklingo hexagons I won in Tilde's giveaway. With your help I decided on the big hexagon layout and found the perfect background fabric at Little Quilts last weekend. It's from Jo Morton's Biscuits and Jam line and I love it!

So here is the filled out center piece and I'm beginning to work on the corners now. I hope to post pictures of my corner plans later this evening. Oh and this is all hand pieced!

I know many have asked about what border I chose for the Little Bow Ties and I'll share that later as well! I've had a good quilting week. I've been able to spend at least a couple of hours piecing every night. Now for a bite of lunch then back to quilting.

Family Stitching

2008-04-06T22:55:00.003-04:00

I've been away this weekend visiting my parents and I thought I would take the opportunity to share a little of my family stitching history. First I want to thank everyone for helping me decide on how to finish my Inklingo hexagons and the border for my bow ties. I'll show my final decisions in the next post!

Back to this weekend...I have a couple of quilts to show everyone. The first was on my bed when I got home and was such a pleasant surprise to see again. It's a strawberry quilt made by my Great Aunt Rachel. Unfortunately she passed away when I was young so I didn't really know her but she was quite the prolific quilter and had given several to her sister, my grandmother. My grandmother moved in with my aunt this past fall so the family treasures were split up among the children and grandchildren and my mother came home with this quilt and the next one. I also was given one of Aunt Rachel's quilts which I'll have to show in another post. I need to get a good picture of it.

This next quilt was made by my maternal grandmother. She didn't quilt a lot, only to make utility quilts when my mom and her siblings were young. She did make this string star quilt I'm thinking in the 50s or 60s. I'm not sure and bless her she doesn't remember any more. I learned to quilt from my paternal grandma and that story will take many posts!

My maternal grandmother was much more of a crochet grandma. I have many, many pieces made by her and her mother which I will also share later. But these are two special pieces that my mother now has hanging in "my bedroom" at home. The first one is a piece made by my great grandmother and is framed along with one of the bone crochet hooks she used. The second one is even more special. It was made by my grandmother while she was awaiting the birth of my mother. When it was close to time for the birth of any child in the family, my great grandmother would go and wait with the expectant mother and usually they would crochet. This piece is made from thread from unraveling a feed sack.

My grandmother always had an eye for history and saved many important pieces in the family and had the good sense to label many with their story long ago. It's a good thing now that she has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's; we are lucky to not lose our history to this dreaded disease.

Anyway, just a tiny look into my family stitching history...I have much more that I want to share over the months to come.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my little musings and for leaving such wonderful comments!

Lovin those bow ties

2008-04-01T23:38:00.004-04:00

I've really been having fun with these little bow ties! I've finished hand piecing the center of my little quilt, now what do I do for the border?

I had some wonderful Jo Morton fabrics arrive in my mailbox yesterday and I think I want to use one of these for the border.

Here are my options...what do you think?
Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

I was thinking Option 2 before I took the pictures, but now that I see them I'm leaning more towards Option 1, however, I like the idea of the gold as well! Oh help!

Little Bitty Blocks

2008-03-30T17:53:00.006-04:00

Wow, it's been two weeks since I last posted! I've still been busy at work but I have also been busy handpiecing my Inklingo hexagons won in Tilde's giveaway. I've pieced all of the hexagons and now I'm trying to decide how to put them together. Do I put them "on point" as in the picture below, if so, I need to make some half hexagons to fill in the edges, I think. I have 50 hexagons (should have been 52 but I seem to have lost a couple little pieces so I only have 50 complete), not all are pictured here.

OR, do I set them in a hexagon shape as below? With this one I would either finish it as is but that leaves me with a few left over. Or, do I applique it to a background piece and scatter the remaining hexagons around it? I'm leaning more in this direction but would love your input, pretty please!?

Now that I've finished piecing those blocks, the little tin that came with the kit was empty. It is the perfect size for carrying little handpiecing projects so this is what is in it now.

The template for this tiny bow tie, 2.5 inches, came with an order from Come Quilt With Me. I had ordered the 3" tumbler template to cut tumbler shapes out of my scraps for an ongoing charm quilt and the templates for the little bow tie came with it. Sweet! I love little bitty blocks.

Annual Reports, Big Winds, and No Quilting

2008-03-16T16:36:00.003-04:00

Whew, what a week! I've done very little quilting in the past week. Primarily because we have our first big annual report due for our new grant. It's actually due to the NIH on April 1 but we had an internal due date of March 14 in order to review everything, test the electronic upload, and all those last minute "oh I forgot" things. This grant encompasses quite a few programs across my university as well as other Atlanta area institutions so it's a big deal to gather information from all the programs and partners. Needless to say I was working some long days last week and when I got home was too tired to sew. Oh well, that's life in the working world!

My second excuse for little quilting this week started Friday night when a tornado hit downtown Atlanta. The first one to hit the downtown area ever. Given that it caused damage to the CNN Center, I know it was on the national news! There is a lot of damage downtown, windows blown out of high rise hotels and office buildings, signs ripped off buildings and wrapped around trees and poles. Most cars in the area had window damage. A lot of people were in the area for the SEC basketball games, a dental convention, and the normal tourism crowds. It's absolutely amazing that there were no fatalities although there have been some serious injuries. In addition to this damage homes in the Cabbagetown area just east of downtown, a delightful artsy, historic area that has been in a period of renovation and rebuilding had major damage to many homes. The lofts in the old Fulton Cotton Bag Mill suffered serious damage with roofs torn off and floors pancaking in on themselves. Again, no fatalities...if you see the pictures you would be amazed. I don't have any pictures to post but if you want to see check out the Atlanta Journal Constitution website. And I'm sure the CNN website also has pictures.

I live just north of the downtown area and had only very heavy rain and some small hail. In fact, I didn't even know about the tornado until I checked the weather channel early Saturday morning when another storm was coming through. Several lines of storms continued to move across the Atlanta metro area on Saturday, first north of the city then across us again and finally moving south of the city. Many other neighborhoods and cities/towns across the metro area and other parts of Georgia suffered serious storms, tornados, hail, and sadly even a couple of fatalities. It was a nasty day for Georgia.

I had planned to hit one of the quilt shops and do some heavy quilting on Saturday to celebrate National Quilting Day but ended up glued to the TV and weather reports most of the day! I'm fascinated by weather but also have a very healthy respect for the power of Mother Nature so I kept my eyes and ears open! At one point the local weathermen were following a potential tornado again moving toward downtown. Even had video from the cameras at the airport....talk about scary! But it seems to have dissipated before hitting downtown again.

Anyway, this is getting too wordy! If you've stuck with me to this point, I can report that I'm sewing today. I've been working on the circles from this post with some of my new fabrics from my shop hop adventures! So no pictures today but it sure has been interesting around here!

Pincushions and Hexagons

2008-03-08T19:00:00.004-05:00

I love pincushions! I used to participate in pincushion swaps on a list years ago (don't even remember the name of the list). My collection is put away for now but I'll get it out and take some pictures later...I received some adorable pincushions! Anyway, Blueberry Lane is having a giveaway of Lynette Andersons out of print pincushion book. She's asking everyone to share a picture of their favorite/most used pincushion and leave a comment on her or Lynette's blog. Lynette also has a cute new Noah's Ark BOM free stitchery posted. So hop on over and check it out!

In the meantime, here is a picture of the two that I use most often. Both are wrist style pincushions but I hardly ever wear them. Instead the larger one sits on or next to Bernie for catching pins when machine piecing. It was a gift from Melinda when I took a Blooming Nine Patch class that she taught at Tiny Stitches. I should put up a picture of that top too! It's still just a top, I don't want to hand quilt it with so many seams so I need to have it quilted or brave machine quilting myself on Bernie...can't decide.

The little one I bought at Hancock's (I think) and I use it when hand piecing. It's just too cute!

I also got a treat in the mail this week. This copy of Australian Patchwork and Quilting with the Insanity Quilt! You know how I love hexagons so I fell in love with this quilt and a new blogger friend Lissa sent me a copy, along with some yummy chocolate of course! I'm not going to start on this quilt yet. I need to make some decisions on colors first. Do I use 30s prints with white? I have a ton of them! Do I do it in Civil War repros? Lissa's idea... Or do I do it in controlled scrappy? Maybe blues and lavender? Red and green? Blue and yellow? ARGH! So I think I need to let this one marinate a while in my head while I decide. That's okay, it's not like I don't have anything else to do!

Quiltathon Day 2

2008-03-02T19:46:00.003-05:00

Day 2 of the Quiltathon started off on a sour note. I realized when I started to work this morning that I had the wrong center in my Carolina Crossroad block. ACK! I guess I was more tired than I thought last night. So my day began with a little frog stitching - thank goodness I had only sewn two this way. Those two are now fixed but the rest of the day has gone slowly.

I have my third panel of the bargello cut into strips and ready to sew back together but I haven't done that yet. I guess I was more fatigued after being sick than I realized. I've spent a good part of today napping off and on. Oh well, I have done some sewing and if I can stay awake for a little longer tonight I'll do some hand work while watching the end of the NASCAR race. And I really enjoyed my day yesterday, even though I'm tired today it was worth it!

Quiltathon - Evening of Day 1

2008-03-02T00:12:00.004-05:00

Well, after my morning and afternoon of shop hopping you would think I would be too tired to sew. And truthfully I did need to take a break for dinner and a bit of a rest but then off to the machine I went. I was able to get another set of 32 strips sewn together for my scrappy bargello, this is panel 3. I've started on the strips for panel 4 and my plan for tomorrow is to complete the last two panels so I will have the center done. Then I will need to think about borders.

And as the leader/ender of this bargello I've been working on my Carolina Crossroads mystery. I finally have one of the blocks done! I haven't done the half square triangles for the star block yet, maybe I can do some of those tomorrow so I can put one of those blocks together. This has been a slow project but I plan on at least completing the top before the next mystery starts in April.

And finally, when I was tired of working at the machine I did some more hand piecing on these little hexagon blocks. I didn't do all these tonight (3 done tonight) but rather have been working on them off and on for the last couple of weeks.

Anyway, that's my Quiltathon update for Saturday (I see from the clock that it will already be Sunday when I post this! I am such a night owl!) More tomorrow!

Hop, hop, hop

2008-03-01T18:20:00.008-05:00

Well I made it to five of the 13 (not 12 as I thought in my previous post!) shops on the shop hop today. One more than I had planned but hey, I was close so may as well go, right!? I started out the morning going to a shop that is new to me. It's the longest distance from home but OH BOY! It's Heritage Quilts and Fabrics in Newnan, GA. If you are ever traveling south on Interstate 85 make plans to stop by, it's not far from the interstate. She has a great selection of reproductions (19th century, 1930's) especially Jo Mortons. The shop itself is right off the little town square and there are a lot of other interesting looking shops right around the square. A nice little town. I then moved on to Quilts & Fixins, Sweet Home Quilt Co. (also a great selection of reproductions and in a neat old house, very nicely laid out!), Patricks, and Intown Quilters. And here is what followed me home...doesn't look like much does it?

But just lookie at what is in those bags! 3 books, some beautiful reproduction fabrics (mostly Jo Morton but some others as well), goodies from the goodie bags each shop gave out (candy, free patterns, fat quarters, charm squares) batting that I need for Grandma's quilt, much needed needles, a triangle ruler, and some DMC for a couple of stitchery projects.

One thing didn't make it into the pictures and that is the bags of a major quilting necessity (at least in this household!) - CHOCOLATE! From Patricks, Chocolate Crunch Logs and Chocolate covered orange cremes. Whoo Hoo....a great day for me and Petey (that's my loverly little PT Cruiser, she came with the quilt shop sniffer addition - she never fails to find one!). A much needed girls day out.

And now, on to Quiltathoning! More later on my sewing progress for the day.

Shop Hopping and Quiltathon(ing)

2008-02-29T22:30:00.005-05:00

I've suffered a recurrence of the nasty crud again this past week. Was off work for three days and have done very, very little stitching this week. I'm finally feeling a bit human again and just in time! It's the Atlanta Quilt Shop Hop this weekend, well, actually it started on Thursday but I did have to show up at work some this week. Anyway, I can't make it to all 12 shops but tomorrow I'm going to go to one that I've never seen and one of my favorites, plus my local shop and maybe one more depending on how the traffic is tomorrow. If I feel up to it I may hit a few on the north side of Atlanta on Sunday. Depends on how much my credit cards are screaming!

Then I'm going to spend the rest of the weekend catching up on my stitching as part of this weekend's Quiltathon! Check it out, it sounds like fun!

Handpiecing

2008-02-19T22:37:00.004-05:00

Cough, cough...I've been down with the viral crud since Saturday and haven't felt like doing much of anything. Thank goodness I had some hand work to do so when I wasn't napping I was attempting to watch TV (had to watch NASCAR!) and piece on English paper pieced hexagons using a charm pack of the Merrimack Collection by Judie Rothermel and the New England Quilt Museum. I had started this as something to piece while riding the shuttle to and from the office and on my lunch break so it was all prepped and waiting. I don't know what I'm going to eventually do with this but will probably add some more fabrics and just keep going until I get enough flowers for the size I want, whatever that may be! Here are the ones I've done so far and the second picture shows the back of one so you can see how I basted the fabric to a hexagon shape (1" hexagon from Paper Pieces)

And here is my second project for the last few days. I've been cutting out the pieces for my Inklingo project that I won on Tilde's blog (see previous post). And I've also begun piecing a few. This is so simple and wonderful to have the cutting and sewing lines already printed on the back of the fabric...it's perfect for when one is not feeling well and can't think straight!

That's all for now, I hope to get back to my machine piecing projects soon!

It's a Great Mail Day

2008-02-13T20:36:00.005-05:00

I won! Tilde had an Inklingo Fat Tuesday Giveaway and I was the lucky winner. Today my squishy arrived all the way from Denmark!

Here's the bag that I pulled out of my mailbox when I came home from work this evening. And here is what was inside!

A wonderful little kit to handpiece a little quilt, everything but thread and I think I can certainly come up with that! And a sample block made by Tilde herself. And the perfect tin to carry everything around. It's just the right size for carrying to work. This will be perfect to work on while I'm riding the shuttle to and from the office. Oh, and Roxanne needles are my favorites as well.

And just look at this fabric! Isn't it gorgeous. I've really been drawn to these deep red and black reproduction fabrics lately. And the browns are perfect as well.

Here is the back of Tilde's lovely little sample block. Her work is so neat and pressed so nicely! You can also just make out the lines printed on the fabric using the Inklingo with the cutting and sewing lines. I've wanted to try this product since it first came out but just haven't gotten around to ordering any since my printer is not so good. And now I get to make a lovely little quilt with it thanks to Tilde!

This was a wonderful treat to come home to on such a cold, windy day. Thank you so much Tilde!

Woof Part II

2008-02-13T00:11:00.004-05:00

Just a quick post...Uno the beagle won Westminster!!! I love beagles and I had picked this one to win. Yeah!!!!

Woof! Now back to your regularly scheduled programming...

Miss Peaches could care less...she's just glad it's over.

Woof Woof!

2008-02-11T23:42:00.000-05:00

These are the two days of the year when my kitties disown me. It's Westminster! I just love watching the Westminster Kennel Club dog show from Madison Square Garden in New York. Shhh...don't tell the kitties but I love dogs. We had dogs when I was growing up, any cats around were barn cats and not ones for cuddling. I always had a puppy, usually of some indeterminant breed but we did once have a purebred beagle and my last dog was a purebred chow. Her name was Cinnamon and she was beautiful. (What is it with me and food names for my pets???)

Anyway, since I can't have a dog now I must settle with watching all the beautiful breeds at Westminster. Someday I'll have my dream country farmhouse with plenty of room for the kitties and a pup or two...and a front porch swing and all the time in the world just to quilt!

And speaking of quilting, updates on the Carolina Crossroads and Scrappy Bargello - the third panel of the bargello is almost done and the strips for the last panel are being pieced. In between piecing those strips I'm also working on the CC as a leader/ender project. It is slow going but I will get there. The plan is to have the top done before the next mystery begins in April.

When I've been bored with those two I've also been using up a Jelly Roll from my stash - Victorian Decadence by April Cornell, has been pieced into a Boxed Squares top. I just need to add borders and can't decide on what colors to use. I think perhaps the very pale yellow and deep purple for the last border. What do you think? Here is a picture (too dark! I need to work on this photography thing!)

Woof!

2008-02-05T00:07:00.000-05:00

I'm on a roll...the second panel for the bargello was finished tonight and pieced to the first panel. See poor quality picture below! At least Sweetie is tall enough to hold it up for me but the bottom wanted to curl around so you can't get a good shot. It really is straight, just curling in at the bottom. Probably would have helped to press it first! Oh well...

This is turning out bigger than I thought it would. I have a lot of 4 patch leader/enders that I think I might use in a border for this. It just feels so good to be creating again...it's been too long.

Thanks for stopping by!

2008-02-03T21:43:00.000-05:00

I couldn't stand it. My scrappy strips were just whining and crying, begging to be completed. So, I gave up and completed one panel for my scrappy bargello and here are the pictures to prove it!

This is one panel, top to bottom picture equals left to right on the panel. I really need to clear some space on a wall so I can pin things up for pictures!

I can't do the other one tonight, my eyes are just too tired. Despite my misgivings I think I'm really enjoying this quilt. I rarely machine piece and even more rare is it for me to strip piece. This quilt and the Carolina Crossroads have really taken me out of my comfort zone.

And speaking of comfort zones...don't you wish you could relax like this?

Miss Peaches really has the art of relaxing down pat.

2008-02-03T17:35:00.000-05:00

Progress on the scrappy bargello is going slow. I got started later in the day than I had planned and I can't sit at the machine for long periods so I have 2 sets of 32 strips sewn together - see picture below (sorry about the bad picture quality) - they need to be pressed and then sewn into a tube, then cut apart...etc. Sometimes I think I'm slower at the machine than by hand!

Since the big game is about to start, I think I'll settle down with some hand sewing so I can watch the commercials! If it gets really boring I can always go back to sewing strips on the machine.

2008-02-02T22:38:00.000-05:00

Wow, time flies when you are having fun - NOT! Work has been quite stressful for the last couple of weeks. I've been trying to get some quilting in but haven't felt like blogging at all thus the long time between posts. I have been sewing and have almost completely pieced a top from a jelly roll in my stash. I'll hopefully have some photos to post tomorrow or the next day. I also stopped working on my Carolina Crossroads because I felt my greens just weren't scrappy enough. Now I have more greens ready to add and plan on getting that top done soon too.

But, tomorrow is the Super Bowl and guess what I'll be doing? Nope, not watching football (much)...will watch the ads but I'll be participating in a bowl of another kind. It is the Quiltvillechat groups "Bargellow Bowl"!

Strips are cut yesterday and all I gotta do Sunday is sew! So, I'll be back with updates as I work on my scrappy bargello quilt!

SNOW!

2008-01-19T14:49:00.000-05:00

It's snowing in Atlanta! Now you gotta understand, it very, very rarely snows here and then it's only a little bit that doesn't stick to anything. But it's been snowing since around 11:00am this morning, varying from big, fluffy flakes to just little bits of snow/ice and now back to big, fluffy flakes! I love to watch it snow. Usually when we get winter precipitation it turns quickly to ice which is not good. My first winter here we had an ice storm that knocked my power out for three days. I had only my gas stove for heat. At least I could cook soup on the stove and snuggle under my quilts for warmth!

Here are a few pictures if you want to see what snow looks like in a southern city!

First, here's Petey turning white - she's supposed to be Cool Vanilla!

Here is what it looks like in the back yard.

Here's Peanut Butter contemplating the snow. He used to love to play in the snow when he was a kitten and we lived farther north of here! But now he's an indoor kitty and can only dream.

Miss Peaches wants to go out too!

It's still snowing, maybe I'll post more pictures later. For now I'm going to be sewing and watching it snow!

2008-01-15T22:57:00.000-05:00

Yeah! I was lucky enough to sign up on Tazzie's blog for her Pay It Forward and so now I'm posting the fun for three more lucky bloggers. In the spirit of paying it forward I will make a gift for the first three bloggers who leave a comment on this posting. They in turn will need to make the same promise on their blog. Within the next three months I will send a quilted giftie to the lucky three.

Believe it or not but since I've begun blogging I've really been getting a lot more quilting done! This serves as a great motivator. I'm looking forward to creating something fun for you!

2008-01-13T17:05:00.001-05:00

I have the best sweetie in the world! It's true...and I have proof. He was worried about me not being able to get to my sewing machine due to the shifting and shuffling of cleaning and storage so while I was at work one day he did more shifting and made room for me to be able to access my sewing machine again. AND, he made it so I can still access those bins of fabric and UFOs, WIPs, etc. that I need to access. He's such a sweetie...I think I'll keep him.

Anyway, with that being the case I've been able to sew more on the Carolina Crossroads mystery. I'm still behind many of the other mystery quilters but I don't mind. I'll get there eventually! As of now I've pieced parts of part one, two, and three (see picture below) and I think I'm going to like these colors. I'm not the greatest machine piecer, I much prefer hand work but this is challenging me to get better on the machine.

Along with piecing this quilt I've begun piecing little 4.5 inch four patches from my scrap box as a leader/ender project. I'd never heard of this before really reading Bonnie's Quiltville website.

But this isn't all I've been doing since I last posted. I've also been doing a lot of handpiecing. More of the circles from the previous post and quite a few 6.5 inch 9 patch blocks. I don't know what I'm going to do with them but I had cut up some of my stash into 2.5 inch strips which I then cut into 2.5 inch blocks. I have used the same background fabric for all the blocks. I have about 60 done now (not all in the past few days, I'm not that good!).

I have been trying to get in one hour a day of quilting every day and so far so good. Some days are better than others but I can see a difference in my projects so far. Happy Quilting y'all!

2008-01-08T21:20:00.000-05:00

It's been a few days since I've posted. I really wanted to include an update on the mystery quilt but I haven't been able to get to my machine to do more piecing! I've had to do some moving and shifting around the house and I can't even get to the sewing machine for storage boxes right now. Bummer...

So, I have cut more strips and pieces for the mystery and I've been doing some hand piecing. I've been piecing on a circle block from a pattern that I modified (shrunk in size). I can't remember where I saw the pattern but remember that it was much larger and was designed to show off the designer's fabric line. I didn't want a quilt that was just one huge circle so I reduced the size and am using mostly 19th century reproduction fabrics. I just love handpiecing circles...call me crazy but it's fun! The blocks are about 10.5 inches and I think I'll only do about 12 blocks then a couple of fairly wide borders but who knows! Here is a picture of a few of the blocks put together.

Update on the missing Baby Jane blocks ... still missing! One of the reasons for shifting storage is to find these little babies, they are lurking around here somewhere.

2008-01-03T21:43:00.000-05:00

Where, oh where has my Baby Jane gone? No seriously! Not my completed blocks, I know where they are...in the notebook I have with the book pages cut up and the blocks kept with their page in page protectors. But, I had several blocks prepped to sew, or at least with the patterns printed and the fabric picked out. I had planned to sew some blocks on January 1, the 10th anniversary of when I started this quilt. And when I went to the basket where these little packets have lain dormant for years - they aren't there! When, where, and WHY did I move them? Oh well, the day was not totally lost. There were two little baggies in the bottom of the basket, one with a completed block that just needed pressing and one almost complete that needed a couple more pieces stitched in. I pressed the completed one and stitched the other on January 1 so I did meet my goal, somewhat. The picture below is not so good but it is the two little orphans (laying on a piece white fleece for the photo so you can't see the muslin background of the one on the right but they are the same size). Now I know one of my projects for this weekend is to find the other lost little lambs!

I did get some other sewing done on my Carolina Crossroads mystery quilt and another UFO. I had to go back to work yesterday and didn't stitch a single thread when I got home, just too tired!

Ah well, only one more day to work this week and it's back to my sewing sanctuary this weekend.

TTFN!

2007-12-31T18:11:00.000-05:00

Well, it's time to reflect on the year past and get ready for the new year. It's been a good year with enough bad sprinkled in to make it interesting. I'm thankful for good health for my family and friends and a good job (although quite intense some times!) and almost completing my masters degree (need to finish writing that dern thesis and then defend it!). 2008 will see me return to my quilting, I've really missed it these past few years. To do that I'm setting some goals inspired by a challenge on The Quilting Pirate's blog. I can't create a slideshow of my 2007 completed projects, since there is only one and that is the I Spy quilt in my previous post! However, I can set goals for the year and will list (some) of my UFOs to be completed next year.

UFO's
I've made a list of everything I can find/think of so far and it's not quite as bad as I thought. Only 34! Here is my top 10 I am planning on working on to complete in 2008...

1. My grandmothers pink 9 patch quilt (just needs a border and to be quilted)
2. My mothers Duck's Foot quilt (need to complete top then quilt)
3. Red & Cheddar Churn Dash (need to add borders then quilt)
4. Pink & Brown Variable Star (to hand quilt)
5. Blooming 9 Patch (add borders then send out to be machine quilted)
6. Thimbleberries wall hanging (to hand quilt)
7. Oscar the Turtle round robin (to hand quilt)
8. Kitchen Quilt round robin (to hand quilt)
9. Baby Jane Blues (finish piecing the top, probably won't be able to finish quilting)
10. Carolina Crossroads mystery

Note I much prefer hand quilting so I'm leaving myself room to quilt a lot this year! Only 3 on my list are large quilts the others to be hand quilted are wall hanging/lap quilt size so they won't be so bad. And yes, I know I'll be piecing on other projects as well but I'm determined to finish the above in 2008.

My Quilty Goals

1. Reclaim my sewing studio! It has suffered from being taken over by grad school stuff.
2. Track my quilting time and money spent
3. Attend 2 quilting retreats with my old friends (more than just a day retreat!)
4. Start teaching my coworkers how to quilt. Five have expressed interest already!
5. Enter a quilt in the state fair
6. Attend at least one quilt show somewhere!

And just to give this post some color, here is the only picture I have so far of my pink and brown variable star. This quilt has been pieced while I was demonstrating quilting at a local park (in 19th century dress!).

2007-12-30T22:34:00.000-05:00

I've continued working on my strips for the mystery quilt and have pieced quite a bit more but no pictures taken today. I've also spent several hours quilting on a sampler quilt (old UFO!). Otherwise, it has been a relatively uneventful day. Lots of much needed rain made it a perfect day for quilting.

Just to have a picture on this posting I'm including one of a quilt recently completed. This is an I Spy quilt for my SOs grandson. His mom (SOs!) is a quilter, in fact that is how we met. Anyway, she wanted to make a quilt for little Christopher so she cut most of the squares and I pieced it together. She then added the border and quilted and bound it. I think we make a good team!

Oh, and I meant to post about the quilt in my new header. This Lone Star belonged to my great-grandmother. She was a fantastic quilter but did not make this one. She actually won it at a fair. I need to get more pictures of other family quilts to post soon.

That's all for now...back to quilting!

Carolina Crossroads Mystery

2007-12-27T15:02:00.000-05:00

Finally! I have proof that I've actually begun this mystery. I have not yet completed all 100 pieces for the first section but I have really begun sewing them and here is a picture as proof! I still need to find and cut more greens and purples so I can have a more scrappy look but I'm on my way at last. In the process of my end of the year clean and straighten madness I know I will find more scraps to cut. Mother gave me some large plastic bins that were used to pack up and move some of my grandmother's things so I'm planning on getting all my UFOs, PIGs, and WIPs (and whatever other acronyms I can think of!) into one, or more, of those large bins and then the plan is to work my way through them in 2008 and get some things completed! Wish me luck!

And just because I mentioned my Dear Jane blocks in one of my earlier posts I thought I would add a couple more pictures today. One January 1, 2008 it will be 10 years since I began this project. I plan on handpiecing a block or two on that day since I am really close to getting all the center blocks done. I have already begun sashing some of the blocks together. I'm not putting them in the same order as the Mother quilt.

2007-12-26T11:59:00.000-05:00

I've returned home after spending a wonderful Christmas with my parents. Here are a couple of pictures from their home, the first is the Christmas village that belonged to my grandmother. Mother has it for the first time this year and I think it looks quite nice set up in her living room

And here is the beautiful tree. Christmas at home is always the best.

Mother and I made candy like we used to do when I was a young girl - divinity, coconut bon bons, peanut butter balls, peanut brittle. Daddy also asked for a coconut cake so we were busy in the kitchen! We surely don't need to eat it all so I brought the majority home to share with friends.

Gifts were small but meaningful, including the gift of one of my grandmother's rings from mom to me, very special indeed. But the best gift of all was just being together.

And now I'm home for a few days so plan to catch up on quilting, including catching up on Bonnie's mystery quilt. I also plan, hopefully, to get my ufo's and fabric stash better organized so I can get some things done in the new year!

That's all for now...more later.

2007-12-20T00:09:00.000-05:00

Since it is almost Christmas I thought I would share a picture of some simple little ornaments I have made. These are so simple and makes a quick present.

And yes, I know I promised pictures of my progress on the mystery quilt. But I guess one needs to make progress before it can be shared! I'm still at the "fabrics are chosen" stage. But I'm looking forward to some time off to do a lot of sewing and quilting.

2007-12-19T23:03:00.001-05:00

What The Holidays Mean to You

For you, the holidays are about emotional connections and bonds. You are happiest being around those you love.

You celebrate the holidays in a minimalist style. You are likely to only give one great present and decorate your house with a few special items.

During the holidays, you feel magical. You love all of the decorations and how happy people are. You like to sit back and take it all in.

You think the holidays should be nostalgic and sweet. The holidays bring out your inner child.

Your best holiday memories are of childhood foods and traditions. You secretly still wish you believed in Santa Claus.

What Do the Holidays Mean to You?

2007-12-15T15:17:00.000-05:00

Carolina Crossroads Quilt

Well, I've selected my colors for my mystery quilt - purple as the accent with green and cream/beige. Although I have a ton of fabric I don't have many 1.5 inch strips cut so I need to do some cutting before I begin to sew. I'm working on that today and hope to start piecing this evening. I promise, pictures either today or tomorrow!

2007-12-07T21:46:00.000-05:00

Carolina Crossroads Mystery Quilt

I have so much fabric in my sewing room (and hidden elsewhere throughout the house!) that I really need to make some scrappy quilts and make room for .... what else...more fabric!

To do this I've signed up for a mystery quilt project with Bonnie from Quiltville . It's called "Carolina Crossroads" and she has also started a YahooGroup for those doing the quilt. I haven't selected my fabrics yet and I'll probably be behind others making the quilt but I'll get there! Especially if I have to blog about it here, I'll have to do something!

So no pictures tonight but maybe after this weekend.

2007-12-05T22:23:00.001-05:00

Wow, two posts in one week! I'm adding a few more quilt pics to this post.

Here is a picture of my Dear Jane wallhanging done in Civil War fabrics. I chose some of my favorite appliques and alternated them with pieced Uncle Henry blocks. I still need to add a border of some kind but I'm stuck on what to add.
It's not the best picture but it will do for now.

Here are a few more of my blue Dear Jane blocks. I've been working on this quilt, off and on (mostly off!) for nearly 10 years now!

I started the quilt on January 1, 1998. I have over 100 blocks pieced and really need to finish!

Well, that's all for today. I'll try to add more of my current work tomorrow or the next day!

2007-12-03T22:34:00.000-05:00

Well, I guess I'm not so good at this blogging thing after all! It's been months since I last posted. Bummer...

However, I have been inspired by other quilters blogs so I'll try again to keep up with the postings and get some pictures out there to share. I've had a digital camera for almost a year now and rarely post any images to share!

Here is my beloved Peanut Butter, just about the laziest cat around but he loves me and I love him. Here he is playing hide and seek on my orange chair (a hand me down from my grandmother - can you say 1970's!) - he thinks since he's orange that I can't see him on the back of the orange chair - kitty camouflage.

And here is Miss Peaches, my little kitty. She's the very definition of a "scaredy cat" but is very sweet and loving nonetheless.

I'll post some quilt images in the next day or so...I promise!

2007-07-08T16:26:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I went to my grandmother's family reunion. This reunion was begun by her father and his siblings so there are many extended family that attends this annual event in July. I haven't been in years and hate to admit I don't know many of the people in attendance. But this was an opportunity to be with my grandmother who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's, it won't be too much longer before she doesn't know many of these people anymore. It's sad but it was a good day. My mother's two siblings were there with one of their children each. One cousin that I haven't seen in ages and another that I've only seen again recently. We had a grand time reminiscing about our childhood. The three cousins (including me) are the youngest children of each sibling so we were always hanging out together as children. I miss those days. It was great fun growing up in the country, catching lightening bugs, picking flowers, chasing cows, eating freshly picked vegetables from the garden, apples off the big old tree, and grapes from the arbor next to the house.

I also enjoyed spending time with my aunt and seeing all her quilts. More on my family quilting heritage in another post...

2007-07-06T01:37:00.001-04:00

I can't believe it's been a month since I last posted to this blog. Not getting a very good start at this! I've just found http://www.librarything.com/ to catalog my huge collection of books (not just quilting but many, many more subjects and titles). Having been a librarian once upon a time, I love anything to do with books. Now I can share a random selection of my favorite titles with my blog readers. Hopefully I'll get the blog going better soon...

2007-06-05T20:50:00.000-04:00

Here is a block from a quilt I've been slowly piecing by hand over several years. This is block A13 from the Jane Stickle quilt, I started this quilt in 1998 but I've taken time away from it off and on over the years. I have about 100 of these little 4.5 inch blocks made so far.

I never thought I would make this quilt at all! I found the book "Dear Jane: The Two Hundred Twenty Five Patterns from the 1863 Jane A. Stickle Quilt" by Brenda Papadakis at the Houston Quilt Festival in 1996 (I think?) and bought it just for the history. I have been interested in quilt history for many years and the letters from the author to the quilter were fascinating to me. But, I told my friends who had traveled with me to the festival that I would "never" piece such tiny blocks. Who knew?!

On New Years Day 1998 I had to work but knew it would be a very quiet day so I picked up a quilting book to take with me and it just happened to be this one. I went online and found an email group of ladies making this beautiful quilt and I was hooked. I made my first block that evening. And the rest is, as they say,...history.

I will share more blocks and more tales of my travels with this quilt in the coming days. This quilt has introduced me to many people around the world, including some very special people.

More later...

2007-06-05T17:10:00.001-04:00

Day One - My very first blog post. I'm looking forward to the possibilities and opportunities to share some of my treasures.

The name? Well, trying to be creative and cover those things I love - quilting, crochet, embroidery, sewing - fabrics and fibers of all sorts. And the treasures are those items from my family and friends - collected and treasured by me over the years.

More later...