Quilt Show

My description of the quilt and the card that hung by my quilt.

I went Thursday night after work to see my quilts hanging in a show. I first went down a row of vendors and after I turned the corner I could see about 4 rows back my BOO it's Halloween Quilt. After I walked down that row and turned that corner I saw my other quilt, also on the end. It was fun to see them. I was so tired Thursday night I could hardly stand but I was determined to see them. Today I went back with several friends to see the show. Since I was better rested I could enjoy the show more. It was very crowded today but Thursday night was nice not a lot of people around.

After Richard & I went to a movie this afternoon I went back to pick up my quilts. I had to deliver my quilts in a plastic bag and I picked them up in the same bags. Inside the bag were my evaluations of my quilts by the judges, a thank you note and a label to sew on to my quilts. I have scanned them all for you to see.



This is the evaluation for the BOO it's Halloween. The judges missed that this was a group quilt, a block swap, so ignore the comments about the piecing and applique, since I didn't do that part. I couldn't believe there was one loose thread the the judges found that. I don't think it need additional quilting. The style seems to be to quilt it heavy, I don't like heavy quilting.




My quilt description on the card that hung by my quilt. Do you know how hard it is to describe a quilt in 50 words????

Here I am by my Dear Jane Christmas quilt. On this evaluation they also missed it was a group quilt. I do agree this quilt needs a little more quilting maybe in the ditch around the blocks or on some of the blocks. They also liked my alternating sashing and the shape of the quilt. So my two favorite things about this quilt were also liked by the judges.




Quilt Show Thank You note.



Quilt Show label printed on fabric.
It was a good experience and I might do it again if I ever find time to quilt again. The quilt show was very well organized.

Quilting Update

I have declared it done!! My DJ Boo Swap Halloween quilt is done!!! I finished the binding while driving back and forth to Las Vegas and today I finished the quilting and the hanging sleeve. I even have it hanging on my quilt hanger in the living room. I decided it needed to be in the place of honor in my home for a few days even if Halloween is over.


Here are some close up of the Spider Web quilting I did in four areas. I used Iridescent Sulky thread to do these webs. I like how it looks different on each color. I just hate it when you pick all the threads off of your quilt then you see the picture magnified on your computer screen and low an behold there is a thread.

I still have some basting to pull out but I was tired of pulling out threads. I think I did a little too much basting but since it was the first time I had basted a quilt I thought more was better. I'm kicking myself now.

I really had to resist quilting every inch of it. I didn't put the fourth spider web in because the picture wasn't very good, but I'm sure you have the idea.

Sunday Quilting Upate

I'm doing this early today because there will be no quilting today. As a matter of fact there hasn't been too much done this week. I have been working long hours from 10 AM to 8 PM at a hospital that is an hour and a half away from my home. My job is to train and to be at the elbow support for physicians learning how to use an EMR, or electronic medical record. I have to leave in a little while to go to work on the West side of town. I don't usually work on Sunday but this is go-live time (it is the first few weeks of using the new record, so we are providing 24/7 support.



The little bit of quilting I was able to accomplish this week was last Sunday, a little on Monday and a little yesterday. I did some detail quilting on these Dear Jane blocks on my DJ Boo Swap Halloween Quilt. It won't be done in time for Halloween this year, but I have made real progress on it.



The blocks in all four corners are quilted, This one corner was done partcially on the frame and my table top machine. My frame machine doesn't like Sulky thread but I do and my table top machine works well with it.


I wish the quilting showed better in the pictures. One of my photography friends is going to give me some pointers. One of these days.



I also did some in the ditch quilting in different areas. The last part to tackle will be my spider webs I have planned for the open spaces.

The week before I forgot to mention I finished both of Kierra's window quilts. I'm not posting pictures because they are so boring and don't look very different from when I finished quilting them, now they just have binding on them. It is kind of funny how many mistakes I made on the plain red one with dark gray binding. First I cut the back too small, then I sewed the binding on the back and rolled it over to the front to hand sew it, I left it that way since the rolled over part is a little bigger and will show more. Lucky for me my points all turned out good. Give me a complicated quilt any day.

Well off to work I go.

Quilting Update

Here are some of my blocks from part 8 of the Washington Medallion quilt I'm working on. There are really 12 pinwheels, so this is only a part of the whole group.




Well this DJ Boo Swap Quilt has many first in it. The first free form quilt, no traditional settings. The first one I basted on my frame and I also did some quilting on it while it was on the frame. The first one I floated both the batting and the top, it worked well. For you non quilters it basically means I let the top and backing hang except for the top edges. I do need to do some squaring up but I'll wait until it is completely quilted. My sides aren't straight and neither is the bottom, but I'll worry about that later. That is part of the reason why I added extra fabric on the sides. Hey it's my first quilt with out measurements, just guess work. I don't do perfect!


This is a close up of the diagonal strip, I quilted very tight in the purple triangles and it really makes those 4.5" blocks pop! Too bad you can't see it well in this picture. I wish I knew how to take better close up of my quilts.



These are the center blocks, I just quilted the green in them while it was on the frame and basted the rest of that area. These show up good but the other blocks I took close ups didn't turn out at all.



This morning when we had the back door open to enjoy the early morning cool air this is what we saw. The goat belongs to Klint & Krystal who came back home to live with us. They brought some extra pets. The cat is mine. The were together for a few minutes until the goat hit her head on the security door.

Quilting Update

Do you ever get an idea and decide it has to be started now? Well that is what happened to me Saturday afternoon. I just had to make some fall valences for my windows. So I ran out to the local fabric store that is close to home and made a purchase. I made the Living room valence first, and it doesn't match the others only because I really liked this fabric, plus I like it better with my blue sofa.

Here is the one for the kitchen, this one is from the other fabric. A nice rust, brown, and cream. I like it, not my usual color choices. I like those cool colors but these are fall colors which is the look I wanted. You can see my Hobby room window through the kitchen window. Those are my year round valences and curtains that use to fit the bay window in the dinning room. We tore those windows out when we added on the Hobby Room. Lucky for me the curtains fill the new windows.

This is one of the windows in the Hobby Room with the new valence and curtains. I like them. Now if the weather would just cool off more. It has been unseasonably cool for here, low 80's by late afternoon. Very nice.

This all started back in the December of 2006. We had a flood in our house and our floors were all torn up. Dry wall had to be replaced and it was a mess. The floors didn't get finished until the week before Christmas. So I made these valences and some curtains for the bay window in the dining room. They turned out great and they sure helped make the house festive for Christmas since we couldn't have a tree. Well I wasn't going to do all that work for 1 week, if you really want to know the truth.

Guess what is finally on the frame? Yes my DJ Halloween Swap quilt. I'm doing some basting on the frame because I want to do some quilting in a ditch and some spider webs. I'm also doing some quilting on some of the DJ blocks. I'm happy with it so far.

Have a great day!!

Sunday Quilting Upate

Well it has been a nice evening. Kierra stopped by to pick up her wedding gift from us. Money, a very practical gift. I showed her the quilts I'm making her, since they are not a surprise but something she picked out and she is pleased with how they are turning out. That is a good thing. I have the binding half down on the black one.

Krystal's horse has the borders on, and it is hidden away until after I finish the DJ Halloween Swap quilt. I sure like how the horse has turned out. I'm going to wait to sandwich it and quilt it. I added on the borders when I need something easy to do this week in between the angles of the DJ Halloween quilt.


It is official the Halloween top is now completed! YES!! Is is a good feeling. Getting that last piece on was a little tricky, but I got it down or is It on! It's very different working on a free style quilt like this. I will do another one some day but not this year. It has challenged me and did a lot of playing with fabric and changing things as I went. I'm pleased with how it turned out. I did have to rip that last piece out, the lower left corner because it didn't lay flat. It does now.
Well it's time to go to bed, tomorrow is Monday, back to work in the AM.

A Gentle Reminder

Don't be horrified and don't be surprised but today is September 25th and that means there is only 3 months until Christmas. A lot of people say how did Christmas get here so fast. Well it gets here one day at a time. So I thought I give you a little gentle reminder that it is closer than you think. It's a little too soon for the Christmas count down widget, plus I don't want to take away from the big event our family is having on Halloween.

I have done some more work on my DJ Boo Swap, I'm not happy with the bottom left corner, so I'll be doing some frog stitches and more fabric preview. I'm thinking big triangles of the blue and orange and let it go at that. I'm also wondering about borders. The original design I was modeling after doesn't have borders. I don't think it really needs them but I have some great orange & black fabric to use up.

I'm a little bummer today I have one of my cats in the vets. She must have had a fight with a visiting cat, and she had an abscess that drained. Now she is getting a drain put in, and antibiotics. She was a good kitty in the vets office. The visiting cats are baned from the house and locked in the kids room. Richard will pick her up from work, as I'm working evenings today.

Well now I have to go to work.

Sunday Quilting Upate

Here are the pictures to show what I have accomplished this week. I'm too tired now Sunday 9:45 PM) to add the comments about each project. I'll do that tomorrow.
Well, it's now tomorrow (Monday, 6:45 PM).
I feel better after a good night's sleep and surviving Monday at work. Actually I think eating dinner did the most good.

I went ahead and finished part 7 of the Washington Medallion block of the month. There are actually 12 pin wheels, not just 3. I could have waited to finish but I was on a role and it is one of those things I'm afraid to get behind one, or I'll never finish it.


I added the pieced borders to Krystal's Horse. I'm really pleased with this. I think it is screaming for a purple border but she likes blue, I do also but I have come to love purple. I don't have enough of the dark purple border to do borders and binding, so it's on to plan B. I have a pretty bluish multicolor piece I wanted to use for the border but it blends to much with the pieced borders. After work today I stopped by a shop close to me, but I didn't find anything I wanted. One of the gals said here is a pretty purple. See I told you it needs purple.
I may go with plan C, a small purple like I have and use the multi as a larger border and binding. I'll like to check it our tonight once I go to the sewing room. Maybe a dark blue like the horse for a resting border than the multi color. It's almost time to play with fabric.


I made some progress on my Dear Jane Halloween Swap Quilt. The bottom right corner is joined up to the orange strip. The center is joined down to the black fabric with circles, that part will be next. I have been trying to think of ways to quilt it. The only thing I can think of so far is spider webs up in the left top corner where the spider web fabric is. I don't think I'm good enough to do that on my short arm frame. It also would be a good one to stitch in the ditch. Maybe I should baste it on my frame and quilt it under my table top machine. Oh well I don't have to decide today!
So that's all folks, I'm off to the sewing room!!

Sunday Quilting Upate

Just for those who are curious if we were able to get all of our things into Jan's car, here is the proof in the picture. One car, two quilters and their stuff, room for nothing else, "priceless".

We had a great time! I didn't take many pictures and none of Jan or I. The few I did take didn't turn out well. We did lots of sewing, lots of eating and some talking. The four of us at our table were the quietest in the group. But when we did talk we had something good to share.
I was able to share some of my talents with others, that always feels good. I gave Linda a private mini lesson in EQ6 and had Ann, Sandi and Judy look on. It was fun to watch Linda's eyes light up as she saw the possibilities of the program.


Here is what I worked on while at camp. The black and gray is for Kierra's front room window. The red one is for her bathroom window, it needs a dark gray binding. Both are quilted in a crosshatch pattern. The Angel is my December mini quilt, the last one in a series of twelve. Needs the borders to be quilted and a binding. The horse is for Krystal as a Christmas gift (no fears the kids don't read my blog.), the 2 blocks under the horse are part of the borders. It needs a bunch more blocks for the borders. Some will be pieced and some will have applique and some will be plain. I remade one DJ blocks for my DJ Halloween swap, that's the slime green & purple blocks. Also I made a ton of half square triangles and made 12 pin wheels and 3 other blocks for the Washington Medallion Quilt. I got a lot done!! I'm happy!

I know you can't tell it but behind these quilts is a brand new design wall. My husband put some insulation on the wall I use all the time. I was tired of pushing pins into the wall, now I have nice easy insulation to stick those pins into. Tomorrow I'll cover it with flannel. He did a great job!! Thanks Honey!!!


Here is the last picture of my DJ Halloween Swap as of 9.9.09. I'm planing to do blue and orange half square blocks around the 4 blocks on the bottom left. I moved two blocks to the back, they just don't fit the colors I'm using. I'm happy with the bottom right corner, now just to cut and sew all the new parts. I'm seeing less white all the time.
Well the laundry is almost done, I need to finish unpacking my sewing stuff. So take care all!!
P.S. My little gift bag was liked by all, especially the lucky winner.

What a fun day!

It is always nice to be on vacation and do some fun things with friends. I meet three of my friends, Irene, Kathy & Carma Lee and we went to lunch. We had a nice visit and talked about lots of interesting and fun things and of course we talked about quilting.
After lunch I went to A Quilter's Oasis to meet a new friend, Lorene. I meet her on her blog, and we emailed a couple of times, found out we are in the same town. So I went to the shop where she works and we visited for a while in between customers. It is always fun to make new friends.


Back at the house I finally unwounded the quilt and took a picture or two. I have it draped over a chair, to try and get a better picture. I did loop de loops. I always worried if the person I'm doing the quilt for will be happy with my quilting. I have to learn to relax about that. I keep telling myself, I'm doing the best I can for what I know. I know I'll improve with time and practice. The best part is Julie was happy the result. What a relief. My worrying is part of why I don't want to do a lot of quilts for others. Plus I don't like dead lines, but the little extra money is fun.

Of course I found time to work on my DJ Halloween Swap. I finally found a place for those 3 color blocks and they don't look mushy any more. I also found a way to us my Witches Undies. I like how it changes form day to day. It's like I sleep on it and it becomes clearer and I see how it will look better.
Well I'm off to bed. I'll need my rest so I can have energy to get packed up tomorrow for Quilt Camp!!

Monday Quilting Upate

Well besides designing a window covering and packing projects for quilt camp I finished quilting the T-shirt quilt. Here it is all rolled up on the frame. This is definitely the biggest quilt I have done on my frame. The take up roller is sagging in the middle a little. It is still on the frame because I washed my floors today and I decided it was safer on the frame then off. Plus the visiting cats like to jump on the frame and sleep on any quilts I have there. Tomorrow I'll call Julie to come get and unroll it just before she comes.

I also made some progress on my DJ Halloween Swap. The right top corner is sewed down to the and including the black strip. The center square on point has the checker broad border and the three floating blocks border attached. I'm kind of liking the Witches Undies in the upper left corner, too bad it is a directional print. I'm not liking the green, purple and orange square, they blend too much. You might notice one block, green and purple that is partially taken apart. It was too small. I must have been very tired the night I made it for it to turn out that much smaller. After I got it apart and was trying to decided what needed to go where, I spent so much time on it, I think I could have made it over again faster. The quilt is filling in nicely.