Around and around

I love this quilt…or will I should say when I get it finished.  It’s called Poinsettia and is from Kim Brackett’s book Scrap Basket Beauties.

I have been working diligently on completing all the blocks for the quilts as it is for a class I’m teaching at Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. this fall.

The blocks are not really that complicated, but there are lots of pieces and your points have to be precise.

I have resigned myself to the fact that I can complete about 1 row of six blocks each day…so I should have this just about done in another week….or so.

I heard that train a comin….

It started with this panel and slowly turned into a complete train wreck….That’s what my poor sister- in- law is going to think when I surprise my brother with all this stuff next week.

My brother is a huge train freak  fanatic….he even has a model railroad set up in his basement…not a small setup either, about 400 square feet of train and scenery.

When I saw this panel I couldn’t resist.  I managed to get out 4 nice size place mats.

I made 4 tea towels with the leftover border print…I hate to see anything go to waste, and it was really nice with the locomotives on it.

I had a few extra pieces of matching fabric and decided I could make a matching table runner as well.

My brother’s going to love it, but my sister-r in-law is going to hate me.

I’m sure I read somewhere, you can’t really ever have too many trains…maybe it was brains and I just read  it wrong.

A maze of Labyrinths

What a fun class this was to teach at Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. I had a full class for Labyrinth and the ladies did fabulous of course. Kathy and Francis’s are beautiful…Kathy’s is a lap size and she want to display it on her table. Francis is making a king in manly fabrics.

I love Lenore’s…a mix of Stonehenge and batiks…awesome, it will be a wedding  gift.

Anna Marie’s is huge and it is all in batiks and is for her friend who lives in South Africa.

And Sweet Gloria is making this stunning black and turquoise for her son……WTF….stands for What’s that fabric!  Gloria, is that a piece of fabric hanging off both sides of that border you just sewed on!*_)!#*(&$_)*!+($_!_.  Did she actually think I would not notice.  Is that what I taught you in beginners?  Get picking!  And yes you can see that from a moving train!

I thought I would have a stroke…..needless to say, she promises that she remembers now and will never do that again.

My job is done.

Farmer’s Wife Finish

I taught  a Farmer’s wife class at Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. about 2 years ago. We did it as a BOM, paper piecing 5 blocks a month for 10 months.

Needless to say, I never really got to see anyone’s quilt finished as almost everyone had more blocks they wanted to do, or were a few blocks short of a their load. 

That was the case until Kathy brought in her finished quilt to show….wowser, wowser.

It is fabulous, stunning, magnificent, amazing….words can hardly describe…..totally awesome. Great job Kathy, and thanks for sharing your masterpiece.

On Display at Checkers

There were so many wonderful quilts on display at Checkers this year. They have them hanging in the area that you eat lunch in and it’s amazing to sit there and be surrounded by such beauties.

Aren’t these runners all adorable.

I love the Paris quilt and the picnic quilt is so cute…OMG I love them all!

I “shutter” to think

How much work stands before me for Dear Eldest Daughter;s wedding.  She has lists and lists and the ideas go on and on. The whole theme is “Vintage”…..old shit  stuff everywhere.  They are both antique and flea market crazy people enthusiasts, so that’s where the idea came from.

She wants vintage keys and tags as the escort cards and we saw them displayed very nicely on Pinterest using shutters.

I picked up these not so old and vintage looking ones from the Restore and thought, I can age the crap out of these myself.

After 8 cans of spray paint , first black, then primer, then heritage cream, we had the look we wanted …almost.

But wait…we’re not done yet, they don’t quite look vintage enough so let’s sand off all the paint we just put on. )(*(*^(**%*(^_*_)*&)(*.

But it’s all worth it cause Dear Eldest Daughter says…”oh they look amazing, this is gonna be the best wedding ever”

The Wedding Quilt

My dear niece Tammy was married in Nassau on August 16th and I promised her a quilt when she got married and this is the one. It’s a Thimbleberries BOM called Three’s Company. I had the monthly packaged  fabric for forever and took it to Florida earlier this year to try and complete it.  Finally got around to quilting it, sewing the binding on and it is ready for delivery this weekend at another family wedding.

Today I embroidered the label for the back and sewed that on and she’s good to go.

They look so wonderful and happy, I wish we could have been there with them.

Labyrinth Ladies

The ladies in my Labyrinth class are making great headway on their Labyrinth quilts. Everyone’s is different and they all look stunning.

Kathy obviously loves hers, you can tell by her smile and Anna Marie’s is turning out wonderfully in batiks. Francis is busy working at completing seam matching and Lenore’s looks amazing in rich greens, browns and taupe.

Checking it out at Checker

We had an amazing time at Checker last weekend. The company is amazing and they treat you like royalty when you visit. Checker is the  wholesale distributer for quilting supplies that Quilt shops across America and Canada purchase from. Once a year they open their doors to shop owners showcasing the latest patterns, tools, techniques and designers. They have almost hourly lectures and guest speakers and it is a wonderful event to attend.

These quilts were the eye candy as we worked our way through the lunch line. Not a bad appetizer at all I’d say. Yum Yum.

And yes…I bought every ruler needed to complete these, along with as many patterns.

Lenore’s Circle of Love

Lenore was attending another class with me and brought along her Folded Centerpiece that she had made with me in a previous class. She needed some guidance in getting the circle a real circle shape. I had a simple technique of using a round charger plate, that just happened to  be the perfect size, and rotary cut around the edge of the plate to make the perfect circle.

I love her color choices and it looks amazing, all she needs to do now is bind it and it’s a showpiece. That same night she picked up fat quarters to make another…..bugger for punishment is all I can say!

Lined up and ready to rumble

Liz and Sylvia look really perky at 7.55 in the morn. We arrived at Checker just before opening day at 8 am. There was a huge line-up, obviously everyone as excited as us to arrive and  get our “quilt” on.

Within the first couple hours I had bought all three of these rulers and the patterns that utilize them. The samples are wonderful and I can’t wait to try “everything”.  I’m such a sap for new tools and gizmos.