I'm trying this out today since I got my new memory card for my camera.  Can't do much without that.

  So far I have done two practice pieces to get ready for our circle challenge.  The first is a quarter of a circle from Quilter's Playtime.   There seem to be a lot of these floating around the basement work area, so I won't use this technique for this project.

The second is a foundation piecing review which I will adapt for my project.  Thanks to the Divas--especially Mary Ann and her patience--I am back in the swing of that thing.

This week I spent a great deal of time drafting the arcs I will use for my challenge.  Luckily I love folding paper.  That seemed to be the best way to segment my arcs since I can't find a compass or a protractor.  I have never let lack of the proper tools stop me from doing a project.  Unfortunately, the patterns from the book didn't give me the design or sizes I needed so a little creative math is the solution to the problem--hopefully.  I haven't started sewing yet, although I am pulling together fabrics.  My foundation pieces are below.

At the moment I'm off making handbags, getting my assignments ready for Friendship and emptying more out of my other house.  There is a glimmer of hope there, so I'm reinspired to clean.!  Here goes.......anyone know how to get this thing posted???  I suppose if you can read this I must have figured it out.  I wonder if I resorted to reading the directions after clicking on all of the icons?????

The Other circle idea ...

As I continue to audition for the Rosie background (a process I detest), I am playing with the 6 minute circle technique in my first post.  These need to be trimmed down but here is my first pass at the hot/cold Malka coloration idea I had in addition to the Rosies.  I will definitely be using this for a new quilt for Brady's room.  Thanks for all of the comments on the auditions, btw.

Auditioning

As usual, what I expected to like wasn't my favorite when I auditioned it/them. Tell me what you do and don't like about these. I won't lead the witnesses. The left side of the photos seems more true to life.  The red orange fossil fern is a lot more red.  Hmmm.  Thanks!

French Braids

Today Syd and I taught French Braid quilts to a lovely guild in Cleveland Heights. We used the Basement Diva's to test the waters years ago before we  first taught it at NEORQC. It's almost always a fun class to teach and these ladies were exceptional. It's a good technique to have in your repertoire.

Spiderweb

As if one circle to think about isn't enough. I started looking for something I had saved in my favorites and came across Bonnie Hunter's tutorial on Spiderweb blocks. I made this one after dinner.  I think maybe I will make one every other day. I really don't have time to do this right now as I have things I need to get done by this weekend. I rationalize that it is OK because when the blocks are set block to block they form a CIRCLE. I am pondering my other circle on my design wall.

History by Kathy

Ruth suggested I write about myself and quilting. This is a sideways response and an answer to the question "How did you guys all end up in a basement quilting?"
I met Syd in 1980. We did stuff together that included a lot of fiber related things but the quilting thing began in about 1983/84. Our friend Roxanne wanted us all to quilt so a group of 12 friends started on the path. We were each given a  quarter yard of a blue print calico and we were to make 12 identical blocks that were to be made into 12 quilts.First meeting with blocks at least  blocks started was summer 1984. Not much done but a great party.Eventually 6 of those quilts were completed.
At some point Syd moved to Cleveland and then the thread started to fly. Our friend Donna signed us up for "Sewing with Sarge". Syd had us go to Erie Street for a sashiko class with Mary Huey. 1989 saw Syd and I taking, at the same time, a hand piecing class and a block of the month on the West Side and "It's OK" with Mary on the East side. That big ball of thread and fabric has been rolling ever since.
Erie Street Fabrics was the center of it all.Many classes and retreats. Friendship Group firmly established many long lived actual friendships as well as some pretty nice quilts. We took and taught many classes, some from each other.
Evening Quilt Sitters Circle was another meeting place. Dianne was in morning QSC but we became fast friends in a parking lot at "Remembrance's". At some point the posse consisted of Syd, Kathy, Lynnee, Jan, Lori and Candy. We would work on projects in Syd's basement, or at Candy's but it was more about getting challenges and friendship blocks done than a study group. We made a queen sized Mary's Mississippi in 5 hours and did some demos for a Woman's Fair (pie and soup were the real attraction)  There were quite a few road trips. We won a prize for our "Soon to be Prize Winning Quilt" in the Fon's and Porter anniversary competition.
 When Mary retired her shop Syd got us to commit to a Saturday a  month and we tried to have a common learning goal. Fran, Dianne and Ruth joined us then as did Judy. Laura came when she could and we could count on Gwen, Maryanne and Sue to come and help us test a new class. Space in the basement dictated the size of the group.
Then things got in the way and although we had our Amishland retreat, friendship group, Quilter's Development Group, and Wildwood Guild for some of us,we lost focus. Ruth constantly reminded us of this.
Then, Lori and Mike made us a big playroom. I don't know if Mike and Brady were aware of the invasion to come but they seem happy to see us. We kicked off the new basement space with a New Year's Jelly Roll Race. Lynne won the grand prize.
This is a group of friends who like to quilt, learn, discover,talk and eat. We enjoy each other's company on this journey.
Now we have a blog. What's next?

Kathy's test

So this is how a Blog works? This is my test. Ruth will tell me if I pass and then, well then....

A little off topic

At our last gathering, Jan brought a cake and we celebrated Lynn's birthday. Happy birthday, Lynn!

Testing, testing 123 . . .

Here goes with my first attempt at posting. I watched a 3 minute Blogger video on You Tube and it provided the overview and screenshots I was looking for.

What a great day in the basement yesterday. I hope no one was stressed by the business meeting section but I think the past taught us that we need a bit of structure to keep interested.



My larger playtime circle

I'm still not sure which way to go with my circle project. For the past couple of weeks I thought I'd do a Stitch in Dye inspired project that could be a trial run for the Marble Champ pattern I plan to make for Brady's wall. Once everyone arrived yesterday and I saw some of the other projects, I decided to pull out my Playtime circles that I did a couple of years ago. Maybe there is a reason they have stayed on top of one of the piles all this time. I'd always thought of them as more of an exercise than something that would become a finished product. I still like them, especially since they include my favorite triadic color scheme. I think I'll play with some background fabrics for the circles then decide if they move forward or go back to the pile.

I did manage to get a couple of good shots of our over-achieving leader, Ruth.

Ruth talking to Susie and the group about her playtime circle

As long as the 8 foot table is still up, I will probably pin baste a few tops. I have backings made for the jungle flannel rectangle four patch I made at the retreat, a Wildwood charity bundle top, and the 1 1/4" log cabin carpenter's wheel.

Welcome

Welcome to our blog. We are a group of quilter who have been meeting for a few years sometimes monthly sometimes more or less randomly. We started when a few people decided to get  together and work their way through the "Quilters Playtime" book by Diana Hire. It was appropriate that we started with this book because that is the way we view our time together. We share our quilting skills and experience and our life struggles and joys. We have a good time getting together and we always have wonderful  lunches.

We are currently working on a circle theme, which everyone is free to interpret their own way. There are only a few rules and there was some talk about being able to disregard one rule.


Lori



Kathy

These are a few of the circles that were worked on today. My photography is even worse than usual but hopefully soon there will be posts with picture from our other members.


Lynn's inspiration piece.



Fran



I worked on getting some freezer paper templates for some small "Rosies" to go with this that I brought along for input on my background. None of the things I had thought of using worked as well as suggestions from other members so I will  be shopping on Monday.