Log Cabin - My Favorite

Yesterday, I missed out on the block lottery at our quilt guild. The block was a log cabin, one of my favorite blocks. I made this Lob Cabin quilt for the 2009 Cancer Relay for Life, in honor of a co-worker, Jimmy who lost his life to cancer. The cool story .... the winner of the raffled quilt was another co-worker, who donated the quilt back to Jimmy's wife. L-R, holding the quilt, Angie, Me, and Tella.

I guess it is time to make another Log Cabin Quilt.

Retreat Quilters, Part 3 -- Antique Quilts

Pearl brought this antique quilt her husband received from his Great Aunt. The quilt, c.1930's was from the pattern "Harrow"???? I researched the pattern and could not find anything, so I may have wrote down the wrong name. The quilt was absolutely beautiful -- perfectly stitched.

Carolyn's story of the Dutch Dolls just tugged at my heart. Back in the mid 1930's, her mom made four of the Dutch Doll Blocks and ended up giving them away. Fast forward, Carolyn came into possession of 29 Dutch Doll Blocks which she has finished into this quilt, four of them her mothers. Carolyn is not sure which ones are her mom's, but just knowing they are part of her quilt must be comforting.

As much as I like sharing my own quilts, this little adventure was such a treat. I loved gathering the stories from each of the quilters and taking the pictures of their prized possessions. Stay tuned, Part 4 coming soon.

Houston Quilt Show, Family and Quilts

"Missy's Fall Garden" is on its way to Houston for the International Quilt Show. Moda will have a booth to promote the Moda Bake Shop, so be sure to stop by and see the Moda projects and goodies.

Above .... my second niece Missy Marie, with her namesake "Missy's Fall Garden". Missy is mother to two young men (can't say boys - they will be reading this). Trevis and Kannon with their mom below, standing with the Moda Leftover quilt. When we all get together, we have mass confustion with husbands...Kristy's husband Mike, Missy's husband Mike and my husband Mike! Good things come in three.

Stay tuned -- tomorrow's feature -- Stone Creek Lodge and Quilting Retreat.

Quilts with Family

It was a gorgeous weekend in East Texas --- perfect for pictures. Above, my brother Tiger and sister in law Christine's oldest daughter Kristy Lynn, with her namesake "Kristy's Dream". Her dream -- to be a great mom -- can you tell her dream came true below -- FOUR times!!!! Kristy and her husband Mike are so blessed.

Alleigh Joyce (named for our mother Joyce Marie) and Emma Grace, the two oldest girls enjoying the sun on their identical quilts made last year. They share a pink bedroom, with pink twin beds, pink accessories, pink..pink...pink!

Back in June, I featured finished Quilts #20 and #21 -- Red/White Coins waiting for delivery to Kristy's two youngest girls, McKinley Nicole, 4-months and below Piper Michaell. Aren't they adorable?

Tuesday -- Missy Marie (with Missy's Fall Garden).

Tuesday Teaser / Missy's Fall Garden Sighting

Our LQS, The Quilting Niche' is heading to Hattiesburg, Mississippi October 8, 9 and 10 for the Pine Belt Quilters, "Fiber Art and Quilt Show" with a booth full of goodies. Debbie, the owner, also designs quilts for her pattern line "Fancy Girl Designs". I am making an extra shop quilt top from one of her patterns, which will show off this beautiful fabric by Robert Kaufman. If you are in the area, be sure to stop by and say hello to Debbie and Patrick.

While visiting bloggers, I was stopped in my tracks over at Sandy's Show and Tell ... she has made my Missy's Fall Garden ... completely finished!!!! I am so flattered. If you have a chance, stop by and visit Sandy's Blog and check out the pages and pages of beautiful quilts.

Have a great Tuesday!

Shop Hop 2010, Quilting Niche'

L - Debbie, the Quilting Niche' owner is standing next to her 2010 Shop Hop Quilt
R - Debbie browsing her patterns to print for the Goodie Bags.

L-Patrick busy repairing machines in between customers.

C - Patsy ready to check out the next customer.

R - Sitting: Nell, Sidney and standing: Maura (long arm quilter) selling the ShopHop passports and giving away those cool Goodie Bags. If you look way in the back, you will see the long arm frame with the Christmas Quilt -- will post the finished quilt tomorrow.

AND -- miles and miles of beautiful fabric.

Leftovers --- ummmmm!

All the leftovers from the Moda "Awesome" Layer Cake are sewn, ready for trimming. For the last few days, I have been quilting, quilting, and quilting....AND oh yea, finished another top.....and with it, another pattern. This time, I will save the whole process for the pattern.

It is raining outside, and will be all day. Perfect sewing weather....but I have to go in to work. Of course, the Quilting Niche' is really close to my office, so I may be "Hopping" over there for my lunch break! I need to remember to take a picture of the Christmas Quilt Top I made for the Shop Hop.

That's right....Today, starts the big South Louisiana Shop Hop! Locations are listed in the header. I already have my eye on another Layer Cake, "Fandango". Being a "Scrappy" girl, I love the variety of fabrics offered in the precuts, and the challenge of thinking up patterns to use everyone of those 10x10 pretties. I may also need more Bella Solids for backgrounds.

Stash Report, Sewing Emergency

Future Surgeon, Quilter, or BOTH! My sister Phyllis sent this picture over this morning. Her granddaughter, 4-year old Alexis is perfoming surgery on her baby's butt after being attacked by the family dog. I stopped by and sure enough -- the baby is recoupering just fine -- the surgeon did a great job.

My Stash Report:

Same as last week -- nothing purchased, nothing finished. I did pick up Christmas Fabric this week, but the completed top is going back to the Quilting Niche' tomorrow for quilting and becomes their shop quilt.

Finished to date, (293.0)

Purchased to date, 245.35

Net busted, (47.65)

For more stash reports, visit Judy at Patchwork Times.

ShopHop and Christmas Goodies

It is over 100 degrees outside, but I am in the mood for Christmas. The Big ShopHop is just six days away and I just had to pop in at the local Quilting Niche' for a preview. AND THERE IT WAS>>>these 9-Fat Quarter packages of the Robert Kaufman, "Holiday Flourish III". Using one of Debbie Frank's Fancy Girl Design patterns ("Baby, It's You!"), which requires 9 FQ's, we pulled 1 1/2 yards for background, 3/4 yard for small border and 2 1/4 yards for large border.


WELL, needless to say, my goal to quilt three tops before starting another one has been broken. Out came the ruler, the rotary cutter, a cup of coffee and USA TV! It's PIECING time in my house again.

Antique Quilts

While I am quilting tops, thought I would share a couple of antique quilt tops made by my Greatgrandmother, Mary. She was a midwife/nurse in a little town west of Houston, Texas. When she died in 1968, Granny left behind over 200 quilt tops in various stages of completion. Her tops were made from old clothes and feedsacks donated by many of her friends and family. Even the thread was carefully removed from the feedsacks and used to piece the blocks. My Grandmother, Lydia (the oldest of 5 children), completed several of the tops for family over the years and still did not put a dent in the stash. Our grandmother died four years ago, leaving my sister and I the task of finishing the quilts.

Folklife Museum Quilting Classes/Bee

In Downtown Houma, LA, the Folklife Museum offers classes for quilting every Thursday. These ladies gather under the teaching of Ms. Rosetta (top left) for piecing and hand-quilting. To the right, Debbie and Rosetta are piecing quilt blocks.

Left - Rosetta, Aline and Shirley (whose husband also quilts) are getting ready to sandwich a new quilt.

Right - Lilia, Marion, Joyce and Trina are busy bees working on their projects.

Rosetta and Lilia are shown here with SIX! donated quilt tops for the Haitian Community. In March, our Parish declared Jeremie, Haiti a "Sister-City" offering support in many ways. Using donated scraps to make the tops, these quilts will be sent to families still living in this devasted area of Haiti.

AND Trina --- showing her beautiful baby quilt just finished in time for her first GREAT grandbaby due October 10, 2010!

Thank you ladies for a great visit yesterday. Each of you are such an inspiration to the Quilting World.

Snowball blocks and sewing room

The blocks for the Snowball Top are done. I will label each row and pull them from the design wall ready for assembly. Using the brights from my stash of 6.5" squares only slightly made a dent. The color combination was chosen to match a 3-yard cut of sunflowers that will be used for the border.

One favorite area....the cutting table. I love collecting the shoe box drawers from the dollar store. They are perfect for holding up shelving, storing pre-cut strips, gadgets, fabric and family photos. My collection of fat quarters are in the basket drawers underneath. One day, I will empty the room and pull the wall paper down....but not today.

"Survivor Bee", Wanda's Quilt

Our "Survivor Bee" Season was unusual this year - to say the least! The competion started between the heroes and villians of past seasons. Our bee members were partnered with a TV player, who we cheered for each week. The first player/bee member to get the boot, was a winner of the fat quarter loot. Sadly this first player, Wanda, lost her battle from an unexpected illness and never saw or enjoyed her winnings.

With Alice's design, bee members donated time making blocks and/or fabric for sashing and borders. Mary Lea completed the assembly of the top, Carol and Rita handled the binding and Carolyn quilted her. What a beautiful gift to leave Wanda's family.

Stay tuned, I will be posting the runners up with their Idol blocks and the BIG Winner of the 1/2 yard Orientals later. I am hoping to snap a couple of pictures to share along with those posts!

Can't wait until next season -- Nicaragua here we come -- Alice, Beth, Betti, Bunny, Carol, Carolyn, Darlene, Donna, Geralyn, Jamie, Lynn, Mary Lea (host), Marlene, Melina, Nita, Rita, Robin and Wanda.

"Survivor Bee"

The "Survivor Bee" is a small group who watch the show Survivor on Thursday nights. We all have been assigned a player -- mine is Parvati. On Friday, some of the "Survivor Bee" girls came together to turn in our Survivor Idol Blocks. The first to get "kicked off" the show won fat quarters of Oriental Fabric we each put up. The winner will receive half yard of Oriental Fabric. The Runners up will win blocks made by each player of our version of an Immunity Idol.

On Friday, we met to turn in our "Idol" blocks. What talented ladies we have! Some of them were captured in our group picture above.

Here is mine -- I also added an Immunity Necklace. On Sunday night, we will find out who wins the loot! Go Parvati!

Funny story -- I sew early in the morning before work and don't have my contacts in yet to see far. WELL --- I run to take my shower, start washing my hair, look down and nearly have a heart attack! I thought I had a ROACH as a shower partner. After falling all over myself to get out, turns out it was one of the cut outs from the steam-a-seam applied mask!

Thank goodness I have my camera back...I have a few posts to make up for!

Janome 6500, Bobbin Case

Those of us who have the Janome 6500 have a Love-Hate relationship with our machines. We love the work-horse characteristics.....we love the wide base....but we HATE the jumping bobbin case....*^*$&$%#$!!! The bobbin case wears out and causes havoc. I clean and oil my own machines -- I am good to my girls. I am under the gun (of course)...my niece is graduating from high school in next few weeks; another niece due to give birth in May; and a quilt show deadline of May 4th!

A big thanks to Alan, at Sew Vac Direct in College Station, Texas. A very pleasant young man who took my order over the phone, let me cry on his shoulder and then put TWO bobbin cases on the UPS truck. One regular and one for free motion (new). I have already received my shipping confirmation and expect the delivery in 2-3 days. I love the ease of the Internet, however there is nothing like picking up the phone and having a sympathetic person on the other end.

Patty's Millennium Quilt

Patty "The Quilt Lady" is looking for scraps to finish the most awesome Millennium Quilt. I have already dug through my grandmothers stash which dates back pre-1980's. A little snip here and there from fabrics which are only 36" wide, hoping she does not have any of these special pieces from the last century.


My heart is very scrappy! Most of my quilts are scrappy, so I use up a lot of scraps. When I see quilts like the one below, I have scrappy-goosebumps!




Hop on over to visit Patty and drop her a comment if you have scraps to help her finish her prize possession --- and let her know I sent you.

Vintage Fabric and Weekly Stash Report

Thought I would share a few of my favorite vintage fabrics. I call them vintage because they are from my grandmother's stash and they are only 36" wide. I love visiting her fabric...they still have her smells...does that make sense?



The first -- labeled "E & W Quadriga Cloth" -- just speaks spring!



This print reminds me of sheeting, however there are no labels.




Label: "Schwartz-Liebman Textiles, Inc. and Logantex, Inc."




Weekly Stash Report:

Used (Finished) this week: (2.00)
Year to Date Used: (142.75)
Added this week: 14.00 (stocked up on solid white and black)
Added Year To Date: 101.65
Net: (41.10) --- Still reducing!


For more stash reports, jump on over to Patchwork Times, hosted by Judy Laquidara.

Wall St. Journal, Truck Drivers and Quilting

Every so often, my day job crosses path with my love of quilting. Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal published an article about the growing number of Truck Drivers turning to hobbies in their down time. I sent the article out to several of my quilting buddies and already Mary Lea is warning Alice to check her stash! Can you guess...Alice's husband is a truck driver!

Still quilting tops....so very little has been added to the design wall. I clean the lint from the bobbin case after every bobbin, so I piece a little in between. Finished the last two of the large blocks and started adding the first pieced diagonal border and corners.

Just 8 days left, and I will be heading to Baton Rouge for the annual Gulf States Quilting Association Seminar. Unfortunately, I understand the Seminar will not have their vendor market this year....FORTUNATELY, I have already googled all the LQS's within driving distance for Mary and I to create our own "shop hop". We both have signed up with Judy Laquidara and Bonnie Hunter on Thursday and Saturday...so that leaves idle time on Friday.

Small world....on Monday a comment and question was left by Bettyp. Shout out to Betty -- yes I am right here in Houma, Louisiana, just 30 miles away from you. The Cane Cutter Quilt Guild meets on the third Friday of each month at the Parish Library, with a membership now exceeding 75. I am able to attend about half the meetings depending on my schedule at work - thank goodness my office is only 2 miles away.

We can't take it with us!

Most of us have a stash that will last a life time. I have fabric from my great-grandmother who died in 1968 and grandmother who died in 2006. Our Mom did not quilt, but she left behind garmet fabric (and knits). I read the posts and comments on Judy Laquidara's site (http://www.patchworktimes.com/) regarding our precious fabrics and tops being sold at estate or garage sales. OR WORSE......being tossed!

A friend Angela, LOVES garage sales and "dumpster diving" looking for dishes -- well not really dumsters -- more like "side of the road piles" Last year, Angela found a couple of quilt tops someone tossed -- TOSSED, both hexagons. One was double knit, the other, a hand-pieced top using feed sacks and fabrics dating back many years. Someone put many hours and love into this quilt, only to be tossed. I am handquilting the top to finish her work. Who knows, maybe I will pick up a quardian angel.

That reminds me...I need to write something in my will...oh wait...I need to write a will.