progress

I didn't make as much progress this week as I wanted, but I did do some quilty activity.

At our Modern Quilt guild meeting this week, I displayed my small hanging - my first attempt at making a modern quilt and my first attempt to make a quilt without a pattern. I think it looks more like an art quilt than a modern quilt and will go into the drawer as a learning experience, but I'm glad I made the attempt.

I shopped a sale at JoAnn's and got a bolt of batting on sale for $99.  It's a bit thinner than I'm used to working with, and I hope I haven't made an expensive mistake.  It will be perfect on the baby quilt I'm making. It will live in my closet between my ironing board and my UFO quilt tops.  I layered that baby quilt and should have it quilted soon,



I started embroidering the snow family, I enjoy embroidery, but found I didn't know how to make a sharp turns .  I plan on following a detailed explanation today, and should then make progress quickly.

I would still like to include this delicate drawn wreath in my Christmas gifts, but it looks so anemic compared to my other projects.  Maybe I should darken the drawn lines...


I hope I will make more progress this coming week.

Getting started for Christmas

It's not that long until Christmas, so I'm getting ready.  I like my gifts to be home-made as much as possible

I made a Christmas Tree table runner this week.  It's a quilt-as-you-go basic runner, and I appliqued these Christmas trees from Melinda Bula's Candy Cane Lane book. It's only 42" long, so it will go on a small table or buffet.

There are several other designs from that book I'd like to make - especially the snowmen family.  That crazy-pieced border looks interesting to make too.

The kit for this baby quilt was a door prize at my local guild.  What a nice gift!  It's a large log cabin block with borders at each end - the outer border will be scalloped.  The wild patterns may keep this baby awake!

I had my 70th birthday this month!  Yikes!!  I hope that doesn't mean I'm getting old...  Here I am with my sons and their families.  Most of my grandchildren are taller than I am!


I'd like to get a portable OTT light that I can use in my living room at night for handwork.  There's a very heavy floor model upstairs, but I like to watch tv while I handsew.  It will be really handy to take to classes and to scrapbooking sessions too.  Just deciding which model I'd like to buy.

Quilt Show

Yayyy!!  I entered quilts in our local guild's quilt show - Flying Geese Quilt Guild!  This is my first time displaying quilts and I'm really, really excited!  They won no prizes, but I got good constructive comments, both about the strong points and what could be improved.

This is Chickens on the Run, just a fun quilt...  not judged.

The blocks in Mama's Quilt were made by Mama, and I sashed them and bordered the quilt.  The blocks were hand-pieced and hand-appliqued. 

The comments were:  Charming old-fashioned color palette.  Binding technique very well executed.  Applique blocks are very well done.
Areas needing improvement:  Regarding piecing - all points should be sharp and sashing and cornerstones should align across the quilt.

My friend Connie and I both made quilts with this pattern and fabric.  The monsters peek out of openable doors.

The comments were:  Some lucky child owns a very fun and vibrant quilt.  The thoughtful placement of monsters under the doors is very whimsical.  This is just a very fun quilt to look at.  Piecing is nicely done.  Quilting motifs are appropriate.
Areas needing improvement:  On quilting motif - be mindful of quilting start and stops.  There should be no knots.

It was a wonderful day - so many wonderful quilts to see.  I white-gloved for a few hours, and my feet feel it!

Cruise

I just returned from a magical quilt cruise to Alaska!  10 days of sight-

seeing and quilt classes - I was in heaven!  I went on this cruise at the prompting of my friend Joan.  Here are Joan and her husband Ken:

This was my first time on a cruise and first time in Alaska.  We saw salmon

jumping in Ketchikan, the Mendenhall glacier in Juneau, the beautiful Buschart Gardens in Victoria B.C., where I forgot my camera!  And every excursion included a visit to a quilt shop where most had some uniquely Alaskan products.  Here is a baby bear taking a nap!

 Sylvia Pippen's classes were eye-opening.  We worked on a felt salmon

hanging and an intricate sashiko and applique bouquet.  We learned to neatly sashiko, applique invisibly, preview fabrics for applique, and transfer a pattern onto fabric.  I had a hard time using the suggested 100wt poly - actually I couldn't make a knot in this slippery thread! - so when I got home I was more comfortable using silk.  They both make an invisible applique.  The number of applique pieces is really intimidating, so I'm not sure I will finish this one. 


The cruise's food was enough to bring me back again.  Such a variety of yummy things to choose from at breakfast and lunch, and our dinner table was reserved for our group each night where we got a choice of a dozen wonderful entrees.  And every night I had creme brulee, except for the last night when we had baked Alaska!  And what a ceremony!  The lights went down, then came a parade of kitchen staff, each member holding over his head a dessert on fire (well, with those little fake lights, you know) while we all applauded!  And everything was wonderfully delicious!

I didn't participate in many of the numerous activities since our group was on excursions and classes every day, and by the time dinner was over and my fellow travelers were seeing movies, magic shows, dancing, drinking, and participating in the many other evening activities, I was ready for bed!  I'm getting old (I will be 70 in a week)!

On the way home, I sat on my suitcase to get it closed with my clothes, fabrics, and gifts, so that I wouldn't have a paperbag carry-on.  The result was that it was 11 lbs over and I had to pay an additional $100!!  I am home, happily exhausted, and ready for my OWN bed!  And I'm planning where to go next time!