Is It Hot Where You Are?

We are having four days of very hot weather here and breaking records. It is really nice to have air conditioning when this happens.

In spite of the heat I have been getting some things accomplished. Yesterday DH and a friend put up my pegboard so I could get my Accuquilt products displayed.

 

After some looking they finally found the studs. We were looking for 24" on center and they were 16" on center. Once we knew where to look it went smoothly. I finally ended up with the following:

 

Now to get a shelf to go under it so I can put the Go Baby and the Accuquilt Go cutters.

 

Some other things I have been working on and finishing are a couple of quilts using some of the dies for the cutter. The design wall is up and in use. The quilt on it is a donation quilt I am working on for Cropwalk this fall. The tumbler quilt was made using the 3.5" die and lots of scraps. It's a partial inventory of my fabrics. (A full inventory the quilt would cover many beds).





This quilt was made using the 4.5" Equilateral Triangle die and is fast and easy to do. I used a soft fleece backing and now batting in this one.

The Blue & White Tumbler Quilt was made using the 4.5" Tumbler Die from the Nested Studion Die set. It is even faster to do than the triangles. This one was a gift for a friends new grandson.

This quilt I've had the top done for about 18 years. Couldn't decide if I wanted to leave it as is or make it larger. I finally decided to quilt it as it was. It measures 61" x 61" and was done in a class taught by Marilyn Doheny in Edmonds, WA. To get it to curve I cut the print strips 3" and the white strips 1.5" and put it together just as you would a regular log cabin. All the prints in it are flower fabrics.

Last but definitely not least Squeak has decided to squeeze himself into a small box to take his afternoon nap. DH says he's packed and ready to ship. We would miss him greatly if he were gone. Well, that's what I've been up to the last several weeks. What have you been doing in your corner of the world???

Quilts for Oklahoma

 I'm sure some of you have family in the Oklahoma City area. I have a brother and sister-in-law and 4 nephews and their familes in and around Oklahoma City. They are all fine and didn't suffer any damage that I know of. Bonnie Hunter from Quiltville.com has been contacted and asked to spread the word to any quilters and bloggers who would like to donate quilts and or blankets to send them to:

 Ship to:

OK Quilt Drive,
 c/o Ellen Medlock Studio Store, 
10032 S. Sheridan Rd, Suite H-1, 
Tulsa, OK 74133. 

(We will be happy to place any kind of blanket, for that matter!)"

You can read the whole post at the following:
http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2013/05/quilts-for-oklahoma.htmlQuiltville

Anything you can do will be appreciated. I can't even begin to imagine losing everything I own, kids, pets etc and having to start over at my age. Thank you for any help you can give.

Quilts Stolen

Quilts Stolen on March 16 Can we interrupt your weekend for a minute? Internationally known quilt teacher, author and fabric designer, Karen Combs, has suffered a loss, her rental car was broken into and her teaching suitcase stolen.Be on the lookout for these pieces, especially if you are in the New Braunfels, Texas area. You can see the images and read what happened on Karen's blog at http://karencombs.wordpress.com/2012/03/18/quilts-stolen/Pass on the word. We quilters need to stick together. Thanks for listening.

Fall has Arrived

Fall roared in like an angry beast this last week. We went from 80+ degrees to 40 degree weather and lots of rain, wind and cold for 3 days and today the sun is back with about mid 50's. The rest of the week is supposed to be real fall weather in the 60's with chances of rain.

I finally quilted the quilt in the picture. One of my customers sent it to me to quilt it belonged to her MIL and they found it when they were cleaning out some things. I put a muslin back on it and bound it in muslin. I had to quilt it with a meander due to some fullness in the center, but it came out much better than I figured it would.

On the home front DH has been canning pepper relish, corn and peppers, and pickling corn on the cob. This is his first attempt at canning so far so good. I thought I had a picture of his jars, but can't find it at the moment.

I have also managed to get this quilted so it just needs the binding sewn down and then it is going up to WA to put in my sister's booth at the quilt show for sale. It's made of flannel and can be used as a wall hanging or a lap quilt.

So working in the quilt room, quilting and canning are what's been happening around here what have you been up to lately?

The Hurrier I Go

Here it is the 22nd of August already. I need a way to slow down the days. I finely entered something in the fair this year and won two red ribbons. I entered the Double Irish Chain quilt and one I did many years ago called White Bear from the book called Quilted Legends of the West. The book says that, "When the Indians brought goat skins to explorer Captain Cook in 1778, he thought they were white bear. Explorer Alexander MacKenzie saw the animals and decided they were white buffalo, and Lewis and Clark thought they were mountain sheep. The Mountain goat is not a goat at all, but an antelope". When I put it in the guild show in WA it took viewer's choice and my husband liked it so much that I gave it to him as a birthday gift.

Today I am attempting to can applesauce and some apricots. It's been 30 years since I last canned anything so keep your fingers crossed for me.

Back to the never ending chore of putting fabric away.

Summer's Arrival

Summer has finally arrived in full force. Today was a run errands day. We made a dump trip, went out to breakfast, checked mail, went to get dh a fishing license and a fishing pole and took one of the big truck batteries in to get charged. The big truck has two batteries, but we couldn't get the other one out because of this. They aren't very old and I counted 4 little beaks all sound asleep. Thank goodness Mom didn't come back and see us around her babies.

I am working on a Winning Hands quilt that I'm really liking the look of. It is going to a friend. I also went to the guild workshop on the

15th and had a good time sewing and getting to know some of the ladies in the guild.

I have also been working out in the quilt room getting more fabric unpacked and put on shelves. I'll post before and after pictures of the quilt room soon. I finally found the rest of my Circle Lord designs so I am looking forward to playing with them to learn some new designs. Now if I could just uncover my software for programs. My computer was in the shop again earlier this month and they cleaned it up but said it was on borrowed time. So now I have a new computer with 2 Terrabites of hard drive and 12 gig of memory. Have to get the things I need from the old computer transfered to the new one. So far I am enjoying the new computer just have to learn how to do some things differently. The old computer was an XP and this one is Windows 2007 and Microsoft Office 2010.

Popping in Again

You've probably been wondering where I've been. Well, I've been trying to sew, stay warm and get taxes done. In the last three weeks we have had one storm system after another pass through and a couple of them have left views like this: While the weather was being difficult I did get the red and white 9 patch snowball quilt done using the spirals template from Circle Lord. Yesterday we drove up to Mt. Home to look at 4 wheel drive Jeeps. Dh was wanting something with 4 wheel drive so he ended up getting a 2005 Jeep Liberty. It's a nice small vehicle and gets 20 to 24 miles to the gallon. After Dh was done with the car business we went on to Boise to visit some friends and I was lucky enough to work in a visit to The Quilt Crossing and KnitWits both very nice and a must for a return visit. This morning we had pancakes for breakfast and Squeak being the spoiled baby that he is had to have some also. In the midst of all this we recieved a post card from the vet telling us that it was time to bring in Squeak to be spayed. I drop Squeak off and by the time I return home the vet has left a message on the machine. I return the call and the Vet says,"Did you know that Squeak is MALE??? MALE says I in shock. MY SQUEAK is MALE?? Yes, says they - Do you want him neutered? "Of course, says I then I hang up the phone. Squeak has been in to see the vet before this so how come the vet didn't know Squeak was male, and the place I left him overnight while we were gone once never said anything about him being male so how was I supposed to know this? It's been real interesting learning to say him instead of her when referring to "Studly" Squeak. It does however, explain Squeak's P & V attitude.

Happy National Quilting Day

What better way to celebrate National Quilting Day than by entering the giveaway at http://sewcalgal.blogspot.com . She is also having the 2011 Golden Quilter Awards. Here's your chance to vote for your favorite quilters and designers. This runs through the 31st of March.




This quilt is one of my favorites. My sister designed this pattern and one weekend we pieced it for a customer of mine and I quilted it using the Double Rose Vine pantograph. It really came out nice and I'd like to make one for our bed. My sister calls her pattern House of Cards.




This quilt is called King David's Crown from a book by Sally Schneider and Barbara J. Eikmeier called Traditional Quilts with Painless Borders. I was lucky enough to be able to take a class from Sally when she lived in Washington. I'd also like to make another one of these large enough to fit our King Sized bed so it is on the TO DO list. The cat is Squeak giving it the cat seal of approval. Hope spring is showing in your area soon.

Finally, keep the Japanese people in your prayers. They will survive, but it will be a very long haul. There are places starting to gather quilts to send and you can find out some information at Quiltville.com.

Teaser

Today in the mail I rec'd Bonnie Hunter's new book "Scraps & Shirttails II". I ordered two so there is one for me and one for a give-away. A Special Bonus it is signed by Bonnie. So stay tuned for details and dates. It will be sometime between now and the end of February have to give some thought to the details. I've had a quick peek and it is even better than the first one.

Merry Christmas from Squeak

It's been a busy month around here and Squeak (that's me) is really getting into her first Christmas. She's been helping Mom (who is busy working on the mystery quilt over at quiltville.com) with her quilting by testing out the quilt top before it is finished. After her nap Squeak said it was okay to get it quilted. After an afternoon spent annoying the older 3 cats Squeak took a minute to enjoy a refreshing drink of buttermilk. (It was Dad's glass, but she just knew he wouldn't mind sharing). Once refreshed it was on to wrapping presents. Who knew tissue paper was so hard to get a grip on and requires constant flattening so it can be used. Once presents were all wrapped it was time to take a nap and what better place than on Dad's lap while he talks on the phone to Auntie Vonda. Squeak's dreaming of next year when they'll put up the Big tree. By then she should be old enough not to tear it to shreads. (She overhead Mom say that was why they had the little tree put up where she couldn't reach it this year). I can hardly wait until New Year's Eve. I'm not sure what happens then, but it should be fun. Merry Christmas everyone.






Love,


Squeak

If I could Make Money

If I could make money as fast as time passes I'd be really rich. I knew I had alot of fabric, but even I'm stunned at how much is really there. Equally stunning is the amount of scrap pieces I have saved over the years from various projects and the ones I have been given because no on wanted to deal with them.

So this weekend I decided that instead of putting fabric on the shelves I needed to make something so this is what I have been working on and hope to have the top put together today. I'm really liking how it is coming out. I also put borders on a small red and white panel I found so it is ready to be quilted. It feels like progress of sorts.

Dh is in WA packing up some more of his tools and the quilting machine. Without any problems he should be back home by Tuesday night or Wednesday. Hopefully, by this time next weekend the machine will be put together and I will be quilting once again. I haven't quilted on my machine since May 2009.

So back to sewing while it is peaceful and quiet here.