December recap

We had a great day catching up with our fellow Divas.  Here are a couple of candids to show all of the merriment.  We had fun experimenting with different beverage combinations, including Jan’s soon-to-be-patented basket of punch.  Her process is genius and tasty too.

 

Laura quilted Dianne’s pineapple quilt and brought it to the meeting.  The quilt and quilting are spectacular.

Kathy finished this Hello Kitty quilt for a friend.  Luckily, she warned me in advance that it wasn’t for me.  J

We had lots of great snacks and sweets in the morning and had a late lunch which was wonderful, as usual.  No holiday lunch would be complete without a themed creation from Judy.  These were as tasty as they look in the photo.  Brady had one after dinner and said it was the best thing he’d ever tasted in his whole life.  So there you go!

Thank you all for the fun and games today.  It is the highlight of the holidays for us.  For those of you who were not here, you were missed and talked about.  Happy Birthday, Ruth!  Get well soon, Fran!

We will skip January’s meeting because many of us will be in Amishland. 

 

Nice personality

Usually I can tell when I'm avoiding something because I find myself repotting plants.  Since I've killed all of my plants, my new avoidance task is cleaning my sewing room.  Recently, I had a couple of hours and went into the room with a ruthless mindset to really take action on some delayed decisions. 

First up is a charity top that I showed a short while ago.  I finally got it bound and will ship it soon.

The next few projects are doozies.  They each prove that I truly am resolved to finish all of my UFOs.  I am not tempted to give or throw away any of them, no matter how homely. Who knows if this is a fault or a virtue.  After all, you never know when you might need to change a tire. 

Here's a not so lovely primitive Moda panel.  I have NO idea where this came from or where it was intended to go.  Where could I possibly have bought this?  Certainly not Erie Street. Must have been a weak moment at Remembrances.  It was partially (poorly) free motion quilted with ye olde nylon thread, mostly bound, and wavy for a multitude of reasons.  I removed a lot of the nylon and requilted it with some functional and decorative stitches.  It also features an ill-conceived faux piping that is snipped at the intersections.  Odd and wonky---but it is stitched down now and not going anywhere, for better or worse.  On the back is a not so pretty 90s green almost calico.



The next piece was developed as a way to use up remnants of that fusible grid stuff that some folks used for water color quilts.  I was also trying to use up all of these leftover squares I had from a Lorraine Torrence workshop.  Those two reasons are not the best start for a successful quilt.  Many of the squares are on the bias (long story) and, combined with the fusible stuff, it is  kind of wavy.  It was quilted and mostly bound when I unearthed it.  The binding on this one and the fall piece is really strange.  It is about 1/4 inch on the front about 3/4 inch on the back.  Clearly, I had no idea what I was doing.  When Brady saw it finished, he loved it and asked if he can have it.  It's certainly not spoken for otherwise. 



Last up is my serendipity piece from Color from the Heart.  Like a dummy, I stuck to the rules (of course I did) and picked randomly from the bag--resulting from a not so charming set of squares. This was a top so I quilted and bound it.



I thought I'd also have my Marie's Scraps included in this post. It's been pin basted for a long time and all of the anchoring quilting was done.  After recently completing the fall row by row quilt with lots of continuous curves, I quilted the Marie's Scraps pretty quickly and easily.  I've been stumped for a couple of weeks on how to quilt the nine patches, though.  I finally decided to dig in the night we had the recent power outage. I got most of the first block done and didn't like it at all. As I paused to decide what to do, the power went out.  I decided that was an omen to take a pause and reconsider my plan.  The good news is that the binding is cut and I just need to finish the three strips of nine patches.  Maybe inspiration will strike soon.

November Recap

Today was our November meeting.  Luckily, we had nice weather but we all compared stories about this week's storm.

 

Dianne was sewing blocks for this pattern, using a pretty selection of fabrics.  She says she exercised self control in the cutting phase.

 

 

 

Mary Ann was making a lovely set of batik blocks using the Lemoyne star ruler that we learned at the Wildwood workshop.  They aren't wonky but the different camera angles may make it seem so.  Blogger is also uncooperative with my requests to change the photo positions in this post.

 

Fran was trying out a new pattern that converts a button down shirt into a maternity top.

 

Gwen was cutting a pretty selection of fabrics for a table runner.

 

Lynn was troubleshooting the herringbone blocks she is working on based on Friendship strips.

 

 

 

Judy used some of her Lemoyne blocks for a baby quilt and then she found out that twins were on the way.  Here she is working on the binding.

 

 Kathy knitted some lovely yarn into a scarf for Fran. Great modeling job, Fran!

 

Here's a shot of Syd's knitting (top) and Lynn's pile of L blocks from Friendship.  Susie was tracing snowflakes and Kathy kept us in line.

 

 

Judy continues to out do herself with the holiday food styling.  This gang was very impressive! 

 

Lunch was wonderful, as usual.  I asked Brady to pick his favorite thing he ate today.  He said the turkey.  It took me a second to figure out which dish included turkey. Duh!  I should have known he'd pick the candy.

We decided on the rules for our next challenge:

1. Choose any pattern from one of Jane Hardy Miller's braid books
2. Must have a minimum of two runs (no table runners)
3. Inject your personality into it--make it read as "you" somehow
4. Use a coveted fabric (on the front, of course)
5. Show progress by April and finish in time for the November Wildwood show
6. Add at least one embellishment that would make music when the quilt is in the dryer (zippers, coat buttons, home dec snaps)
7. Include dimensional pockets where you can store spare change
8. Ignore rules 6 and 7 (right, Ruth?)

 We missed Jan, Laura, and Ruth and made sure to talk about them throughout the day.  See you in December!  Happy Thanksgiving to all!

October Recap

What a great day to stay inside and sew!

Laura, Diane, and Mary Ann worked on binding.  Gwen and Jan pin basted and were happy to have extra help from Susie and Ruth.  Judy was working on her color challenge for Wildwood. I pin basted my Wildwood challenge.  There was lots of chatting and consultation, of course.

 

Kathy was knitting a beautiful scarf which she then gifted to me!  I gave her the yarn but she put in all of the hard labor.  What a nice surprise for me! 

Lunch was great, as usual.  Judy outdid herself with not one, but two, Halloween creations as well as a few other treats! 

 

We managed to talk business (challenge business) after lunch.  We decided to start with a potholder sized mug rug, snack mat, tiny quilt sort of thing for our next project.  We will discuss at our November meeting when it will be due.  It may be the December, January, or February meeting but we didn’t commit yet since many of us are distracted by our Wildwood deadlines that are approaching FAST!  We will do a randomized swap of the finished pieces.  Include your name and the date on the back of your piece.  The assumption is that none of us would actually USE any of these to handle food but no one will be policing that.  Here’s are some examples to inspire you here, here, and here.  This over-analyzer says … don’t overthink it. 

We also discussed the other challenge ideas that many of us liked.  We ended up with three favorites, including one that we didn’t list in the September Recap post.  In no particular order, our favorites are:  a braid book project (#1 from the original list), something for yourself (#4), or a round robin wallhanging.

We also discussed doing a Halloween fabric swap.  Think about the size that has the most appeal to you:  2.5 inch strips, layer cake size, charm square size, bricks, or other.  We can decide at the next meeting what dimensions and quantities we will use.  Participation is optional but, since most of us love Halloween quilts, I thought it might be fun.

Thanks to everyone for your input on my  quilt.  Your ideas helped a lot.  I will need to put the pedal to the metal to get it done but having all of the decisions made is progress!

Dear Divas

I've been busy trying to finish my Wildwood pieces.  I set some stretch goals for myself so things are hectic!  I made a backing for the huge circles quilt.  I used up a panel and lots of odds and ends plus clearance stuff.  You'll have to turn your head to see the right orientation.  This was the only way to fit most of it in the pic.  I hadn't realized until now that the trees in the panel look like topiaries.

 

Here's a shot of a quarter of the quilt, to refresh your memory.

I've been stumped as to how to quilt it.  My latest idea is below--sort of a ribbon candy effect in the square backgrounds and a spiral in the circle.  The circles are about 8" finished so I don't have the option to leave them unquilted.  My questions to you are ... do you have any other ideas for the quilting and, also, what kind/color of thread would you use?  I'd rather not use clear thread because this will eventually be a bed quilt that will be used by Brady.  I'd love to hear your feedback!

 

September Recap

What a beautiful day to get together and sew and eat and talk.  We were missing a few Divas today, including some of our more vocal leaders.  Things were a bit lower in volume but we had a lot of fun.  Of course, we talked about all of you.  Lunch was great, as always!

 

MaryAnn was working on her monochromatic color challenge for Wildwood. 

 

Susie was hand sewing the binding down on her Mary Ellen Hopkins challenge piece and Gwen was layering and pinning with help from fellow Divas.

 

Lynn was cutting scraps into useable chunks.  Presumably this photo shows her demonstrating the size of scraps she keeps or uses or maybe it was another topic entirely.  I had to include this shot.  :-)

 

Jan was prepping the ingredients for a Wildwood program for the members to make their own crowns and Dianne was working on more blocks from her July project.

Syd was knitting a shawl in a pretty color combo. 

 

Lynn decided she was “done” with her Heritage F’ing Medallion (HFM) and gifted the nearly done top and box of scraps to Jan.  Time will tell if this is the best gift ever or a penance.

I finished quilting my pixelated piece and was looking for advice on edge finishes.  This one is heavy!

Dianne put together these vintage Easy Pieces blocks she found in her UFO pile.  Lovely color combo!

 We brainstormed ideas for future challenges.  In no particular order …

1.      French Braid Revisited:  Use one of the books for a group workshop.  This was a today’s most popular idea.

2.      Applique: Can be hand, machine or fused.  Can be its own or a part of a pieced quilt. Finished quilt no smaller than 12” square (think Laura Wasilowski) and as large as you’d like.

3.      Quilter’s Playtime or Gwen/Freddie:  Use one of these books as a recipe for a few months in a row.  We have enough copies of these books in our midst that we thought no one should have to buy them.

4.      Make something for you:  could be a purse, a quilt, wallhanging, something knitted, etc.  The idea is that we are always focused on things for others. 

5.      Quick Curve Ruler:  This is the ruler MaryAnn used a few months ago with batiks for a shop sample.  Tutorials are here, to give you an idea:  http://sewkindofwonderful.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html.  We could do hands on working sessions so we can share rulers.

6.      Potholders:  Make a (probably display only) potholder for yourself or we could draw names.  Inspiration from this one came from Kathy’s chicken potholders a couple of years ago at the Wildwood show sale.  Melody exchanged them with her artsy friends a few years ago,  I believe.

7.      Small, art quilt:  No pressure—Dimension limits would be no side smaller than 20” and no side larger than 40”.  Anything goes.

8.      From Ruth’s email (I added a link that shows the houses.  They are really stunning.  Be sure to look at these projects.)

a.      I got this email this morning and Candy Glendening's Holiday Houses was one of the things I was going to suggest for our next project/ challenge. She has a new book that looks like it might have some small projects to work through together.  http://www.candiedfabrics.com/2014/08/25/my-ebook-create-handmade-gifts-for-all/

b.      Another thing I was going to suggest was a collaborative slice quilt. There are some ideas in Quilting Arts Feb/March 2013 and some other Quilting Arts in 2012

c.      Or.. a small abstact (or not abstract) quilt mounted to a painted cradled board like the things Melody Johnson has been doing.

We will take a poll next month and decide on a favorite. 

Made fabric

My sewing room has been moved several times and it's been a bit of a challenge to sew.
I'm upstairs instead of on the first floor and the room isn't organized at all. I just have no desire to make decisions about where things should go.  This is the forth or fifth move in just a couple of years.  This still feels temporary and I'm tired of hunting for my things in the boxes.
I tried to sew some of my unfinished projects and haven't accomplished more than sewing a few pairs of blocks together but I keep bumping into my scrap box.
I decided it was telling me to play with it so I listened to it's pleas today.   Made fabric blocks were my scrap box choice so I obliged.   I made thirteen blocks and got reacquainted with my sewing machine.  We missed each other. 

July Basement

I'm not sure which of our absentee Divas are more rowdy but it was definitely a little subdued without Judy, Fran, Lynn, and Laura.  Maybe the dreary weather had something to do with it. We managed to have fun nevertheless.

 

Syd and Kathy brought knitting to pass the time while they socialized.

 

Kathy had great show and tell--this trip around the world made from a line of astrological fabric.

 

The back included leftovers and fabric gifted to her from some of the Divas for her most recent birthday.

 

Gwen and Susie worked on binding.  Imagine Susie is across from Gwen--she must have stepped away before I took this photo.  Mary Ann was working on an applique project she plans to continue on an upcoming road trip.  Dianne worked on piecing some of the blocks she'd cut for the pattern she brought a couple of months ago.

 

Here's a shot of Jan reading the directions for the piping hot binding and Ruth is quite entertained.

Even with a smaller crowd, lunch was just right--as usual.

Kathy sent an email with our challenge selection plans for September and she also mentioned that we are on hiatus for August.  If you weren't at lunch yesterday, then you missed several Divas singing See You in September. I'll leave you with that visual ...