Stitchin' Friends

Oooops

2012-01-04T21:02:00.000-05:00

Have you ever done this??

I like to test my tension before I start machine quilting and I just sandwich a small piece to sew on until I get it right. So, my little test piece, unbeknownst to me, got under the piece I was quilting. Now you would think I would notice that the fabric had gotten much thicker - but nooooooo.

I mean really, this was not just one layer of fabric, it was two layers of fabric and one of batting - how did I miss that??

Didn't see it until after I finished all the quilting and turned the piect over to "admire" my handiwork. Handiwork indeed - more like klutzywork. Had to rip out all the quilting in that section of the quilt. Have you ever ripped out machine quilting? NOT FUN.

Live and learn - well, live anyway.

Teresa

Beaded Applique

2011-12-18T07:14:00.000-05:00

Someone on a blog asked the question "What is your favorite Christmas decoration." I have so many that bring back special memories, but this one is my favorite.

This is my mom's Christmas tree. When I was growing up, we would always go into the woods and select the perfect cedar tree for our Christmas tree, a task my oldest brother Michael seem to enjoy the most. Then we would decorate it with lots of pretty ornaments that Momma and Daddy had collected and that we had made. As the years went by, and we grew up, they switched to a huge artifical tree, that was beautiful with all our ornaments on it. I would help Momma get it decorated each year. I have pictures of my children looking in awe at Grandma's Christmas tree. By the time the great grandkids had started arriving, the big Christmas tree and all the decorations were just too much for my parents.

Momma had this sweet "feather" tree that Daddy had made for her many years before and she put her special ornaments on it. This was the only tree she used in the last 15 years or so of her life. I would go down in the mornings and help her put the decorations on and it was so very special to me. The angel on the top of the tree was "Me" according to my mom and of course I believed her :) at least I knew I was in her eyes. She had choir boy ornaments for my brothers - but I was always on top of the tree! The tree is at my house now, and I feel so very priviledged each year to put my Momma's tree up in my home.

Now for the beaded applique. In my last post I mentioned a bed runner I was working on. I am now doing the applique on the borders on each end. I drew some ornaments and when I started putting them on they just looked like they needed a little bling. Having taken a beading class at the Quilters of SC Piecable retreat in the Fall, I decided to try out some beading on my ornaments, but I wanted to incorporate the beading with the back basting applique.

I started by adding a bead with each applique stitch, but the beads were laying on their side, not a very attactive look!

Then I remembered that in class, we took the thread back through the beads, so I tried this and the beads all stood upright, like soldiers at attention.

What fun! It takes longer to do than back basting without the bling, but I love the look. Here is what the end border looks like with all the beads. I added gold chains using DMC gold metalic floss - not my favorite thing to work with, and a few stitches at the top of the ornaments to be the ornament hanger. I am having fun with this one!

Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas week and a joyous Christmas Day!

Teresa

Designing Applique

2011-12-08T19:06:00.000-05:00

I love to do applique, but have never tried to design my own applique patterns. Well that is not quite right, I have tried and never could get it right. I am hoping to do a class next year on a Fall table runner, with this applique that yes, I designed. Its pretty simple, but its my first design. I will use it to teach back basting applique and thus it needs to be a simple design, at least that's my story and I am sticking with it!

Here is a glimpse of the runner. I don't have both sides appliqued yet and obviously it is not quilted yet - but this will give you an idea of the direction I am headed.

I am having fun with this and am anxious to get it finished.

In addition to the table runner, I am working on a Christmas bed runner. I just love the idea of a bed runner to cheer up (or holiday-up) a room. The applique for this one is still tumbling around in my head but will have applique on each end that drops to the side of the bed - I am thinking Christmas ornaments on embroidered gold chains (chain stitch).

That's my Christmas Beauty quilt that I have it lying on. First year I have actuallly used this quilt at Christmas. I don't see this runner being on something quite this busy, possibly a plain white spread would be better.

Well - so that is what I am up to. I would like to say thank you for all that follow my blog. I see I have picked up a few new followers and that is encouraging.

Teresa

Another border idea

2011-11-27T16:46:00.000-05:00

In my last post, I talked about various border ideas for my hexie quilt. While going through some old magazines I came across this quilt in an American Patchwork and Quilting 2005 magazine.

I just love the look of this border and am thinking I could do something similar, but using my little hexie flowers. Maybe a birdhouse in one corner and a little blue bird or two in the other corner. I have not done anything like this before, so should be an interesting project.

In the meantime I have been working on a "secret" project and having so much fun playing with beads and beautiful wool. I should be able to show some finished projects in a couple week or so.

Have you gotten your decorations up? I have actually completed most of my decorating - just a few more ornaments to hang. These are my nesting Santas - my grandchildren have more fun playing with these, for that matter, so do I.

Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving, and happy holidays to come.

Teresa

Border Options

2011-11-13T07:51:00.001-05:00

I have been on the road again - this time to Washington DC for a business conference. The weather was lovely, even if I did spend all day (8:30 - 5:00) every day in meetings. Rather than show you the typical pictures of Washington, I thought I would show you some of the other visitors - the Occupy Washington crowd was there too.

I took my hexies to work on in the evenings, and this is the stack I completed. They are smaller than the ones I have been working on for my quilt, measuring just 2.5 inches across. I want to use them in the border - but how???? There in lies the question.

My first thought was to create a "Posey Chain" around the border since I am calling this quilt Granny's Posies. But then reality sunk in, that would take almost 175 of these little darlings - not sure I want to go there.

My next option was to create little flowers and with leaves and stems all around the borders, maybe mingling in a butterfly, bluebird, bumble bee every now and then. I like this option better and it takes about a third of the number of flowers to make. I just wish I could draw better as creating the bluebird, butterfly and bumblebee are real stretches for me. I have a talented daugther though that can draw anything, so I am going to have to give her a call.

Have you any suggestions fo rmy border??? I always love seeing all the creative way people border their quilts, but when it comes time for me to do the same I think my mind goes into deep freeze.

My family all came over for homemade soup and cornbread last night. Afterwards we were in the living room and they saw something that captured everyone's attention. See that look of anticipation - and even fear on their faces?

So you may be asking, or maybe you aren't, but here is what they were anxiously awaiting. The cuckoo scared little Taralyn so much she did not even want to go in the living room again the rest of the night.

My wonderful brother and his wife brought me this clock from a recent visit to Germany.

Happy Stitching!
Teresa

Bargello Quilting is FUN!

2011-10-09T20:24:00.001-04:00

First I will announce the winner of the Sewline Needle Threader.

That would be Thimbleanna. I just love Anna's blog and hope you will check it out.

My review of the threader is that it works like a charm and I like it, except.... it is very sensitive and you can't force it into the needle cause it will break. Speaking from experience here - yes I broke mine. But you can purchase replacement cartridges so I have a couple on order. I used too big an embroidery needle - should have known as it was hard to get the needle into the slot. Live and learn.

Yesterday was Stitchin Friends club meeting and we had so much fun. Sylvia Strange was our guest teacher and she is an excellent and very patient teacher.

Here is my quilt. Its quilted an ready to bind and then will be hanging on the wall in my office. I just love the colors.

I had enough strips left to make a pillow top.

This was a fun project and I hope I can find time to have more bargello in my future.

Happy Stitchin'
Teresa

You know its time to post to your blog when.......

2011-10-04T21:46:00.000-04:00

...a friend calls you on the phone and asks if you are ever going to update your blog! HaHa - thanks for the nudge Cheryl. So, I thought I would share with you a quilt shop I visited today.

I am in Durham NC for a business meeting and thought I would check out Thimble Pleasures in Chapel Hill while I was in the neighborhood.

That big black Crown Victoria with the NY plates was the car Enterprise chose for me to drive! There was a mixup with my reservation and they provided me with this. Made me feel downright mafia-like. All it needed was the dark tinted windows.

What a great shop - lots of light, space to move around easily admiring all the shop samples and an amazing assortment of fabric. Not many kits, but lots of inspiration hanging on the walls and fun patterns to look through. The wall of notions really caught my eye as I am a sucker for a new notion..and am going to share one in a give away with you at the end of this blog.

And of course, I had to make a few purchases. I have been trying to be good and not buy fabrics unless I have a specific quilt in mind, although I did have to buy a 1/2 yard cut of one that just kept catching my eye.

Now gadgets and notions are an entirely different matter. I am like a kid in a candy shop when comes to new "stuff" and some old stuff - like buttons.

One new item I discovered is the Sewline Quickthru needle threader for fine needles, sizes 9 - 12. These old eyes twinkled when they saw this and I knew I had to try it.

And thus the give away - I want YOU to try it with me. Leave me a comment and I will draw a name on Sunday, October 9 and it could be yours.

As always, if you don't have a blog or can't post for whatever reason to my blog - just send me an email to put your hand in the drawing (jqd@comporium.net )

Good luck, and I'll be chatting on Sunday with a new project in the works to share.

Happy Stitchin'
Teresa

And the winner is......

2011-08-28T22:01:00.000-04:00

Leanne, at www.quiltmekiwi.blogspot.com !!!!! Congratulations Leanne, and send me your mailing address and I will send you these lovely threads. I do hope you enjoy the YLI #8 Pearl Cotton threads as much as I have.

I have been working this week on my snail trail border for my Doh-si-Doh quilt. These little 3" blocks are quite a challenge and I had to come up with some organizational ideas to keep me straight. Soon I will show my paper piecing process, but first I would like to share how I got organized to make the blocks.

First I had to make notes on what size pieces I needed andhow many. I hope you can read this card, if not, then double click to enlarge. The cutting guide shows the size square to cut, which then has to be cut in half to form triangles. Sizes were 1 1/4", 1 3/4", 2 1/2" and 3". I kept getting it confused, so the need for the card.

Next was setting up the layout of the block. I kept getting my pieces in the wrong order, so I printed out the block on cardstock, and labeled my fabric A and B. A blank meant background. Since this is a border, I just needed the two colors.

I sew these blocks in sets of two, a top block an a bottom block. This is the card for the Top, and the bottom card is similar. These cards are my life line in piecing the blocks, which get very confusing with all the twists and turns. Anyone of you who have ever done a snail's trail block know what I mean.

I labeled my foundation papers as Top or Bottom, so that I could keep it straight which one I was working on. This also gave me a reference point to line up with the pattern card to make sure I was positioning the fabric correctly.

On the back of the paper foundation piece I drew reference lines to be used in lining up the fabric pieces when sewing.

These lines were invaluable when lining up the beginning 4-patch. This helped me to center the 4 patch in the center of the square and to ensure the block was not tilted.

And finally, last but definitely not least, I lay out all my pieces needed for the top and bottom blocks on the design board. The "A" pieces are on top, the background pieces in the middle and the "B" pieces on the bottom. This has really helped me so much in keeping the pieces straight. Not that I have not made some booboos - and will continue to do so.

Well that is all for now, more to follow on the paper piecing process. Hope this gave you all some ideas on how to organize your piecing process.

Thanks for stopping by,
Teresa

The Last Stitch

2011-08-16T23:45:00.000-04:00

Checking my followers list, it is so nice to see that I have not lost any of you in my absence. Thanks for hanging in there with me and to celebrate your still being here, I have a give away that I think you will like.

So here I am taking the last hand quilting stitch on my Circus Stars Quilt !!! I have it bound, labeled and washed now and neatly folded away from cat hair until I can get my daughter to help me get some nice pictures. More to follow.

Now about the give a-way. I have mentioned many times that I was hand quilting this quilt using the big stitch (in my case JUMBO stitch) with #8 pearl cotton YLI threads. This thread is pretty and is a fun to quilt with. I enjoyed it so much, I thought I would share some with you - and here it is. Three skeins of in some of my favorite colors, but I love them all, so it was hard to choose.

So if you would like to win these lovely threads, just leave a comment on my blog. That is all there is to it. If you can't leave comments, then send me an email at jqd@comporium.net and I will enter you in the drawing. I will draw a name on Sunday, August 28.

In the mean while, I will be working on this snail trail border for my Doh-si-Doh quilt.

These are tiny little pieces, as you can see in this picture of the four patch that is in the center of the block. The penny would actually cover up the four patch if I laid it on top of it. The fabrics are the same I used in the quilt and I thought this would make a nice border, but WHAT WAS I THINKING!!!!! Seems like I can turn the simplist of projects into a challenge.

Here are all the tiny pieces sorted in sandwich bags - the only way I can keep from losing them. I am piecing by paper piecing using an add-an-eighth ruler. I will show more on this process later.

Well, that is it for now. Please enter the drawing as I know you will love these threads.

Happy Stitching,

Teresa

Ho - Ho- Ho

2011-07-23T21:46:00.000-04:00

I have been working on a Christmas Placemat that I will be teaching my club to make next month. This is from a McCall's Quilting magazine, December 2007. I modified the pattern dimensions a little to accomodate paper piecing the Santa.
This is the placemat before it is quilted and bound - I guess it is a flimsy placemat.

The pattern called for a fabric bow to be tied to the hat. While it was cute, I did not particular want that on my placemats, so I have been auditioning different things to put on the Santa cap.

Below are the three finalists - which do you like best?

Thanks for your input,

Teresa

On to the borders...

2011-07-17T10:42:00.000-04:00

Finally, I finished quilting all the stars on my Circus Stars quilt and have moved on to the borders! Can hear a big HURRAH out there? Seems like it has taken forever to get this far, but I must admit a tinge of sadness when I finished that last star, we've become good buddies, the quilt and I.

So anyway, I thought I would show some pictures of the quilting I am doing on the border. I am keeping it pretty simple. Since I am calling the quilt Circus Stars, I thought it should have rings around the border - and the corners should have 3 rings, like a 3 ring circus. Now I probably did not not need to explain that you you smart ladies and gents, but my daughter did wonder if anyone would "get it?" And in circus style - you will note that I am doing "jumbo" quilting stitches which I also think is suitable for a circus named quilt (and that's my story and I am sticking with it.)

Here is the pattern on the border, like I said, it is simple.

You can probably see the pattern a little better on the back side of the quilt, I know the jumbo stitches sure show up better. I am using #8 YLI pearl cotton in variagated colors. This thread is a joy to work with.

And here are views of the border corners, front and back.

Quilting the border is going fairly fast compared to the stars, and I have had lots of time this since last evening. I took a little tumble yesterday, and hurt my foot, so I am trying to stay off it for a day or so. Nothing broken, at least I don't think so, but thanks to the quick thinking of my daughter, Ellen, who put a bag of frozen blackeye peas on my foot, there is very little swelling (wonder if her distaste of blackeye peas had anything to do with her choice?)

A word of advise, it doesn't matter if you love your crocs, and you have had them for 5 years, and they aren't torn up - throw them away!! Once they get smooth on the bottom, they slide on wet surfaces, or even dry surfaces if the bottoms of the croc are wet.

Happy Stitchin'

Teresa

My New Space :)

2011-06-27T20:55:00.003-04:00

Well finally it is done (almost - a few pieces of trim still need to be added.) A look back - this is what my space looked like a couple of weeks ago. I have had my "treasures" boxed up for weeks now waiting for this renovation to begin and was so happy when it finally got started.

So .......here is a tour of my new space, all except the storage closet which needs a little straighteneing up as there is a pile of yard sale treasures in there right now.

Special shelf for my pincushions

View showing peg board

Special location for sewing box my brother made and knitting needles and crochet hooks in wooden vases made by my father. The Tatted cross was made by my mother.

Design Wall - with my Do-si-Do Square Dance quilt.

Shelf space for my Buttons and Books

View from across the room. The drawer units were made by my father and I just could not bring myself to paint them. There is room for two friends to sit across from the cutting table with their machines or handsewing to enjoy a time fo sewing and chatting.

Built in shelf beside the fireplace in the Living Room. We removed this shelf to make room for my Mom's Secretary. Also added the crown molding. When the shelf was removed, it left a big bare place on the floor where the carpet was, so our contractor suggested we put the leftover pergo there on either side of the fireplace. Perfect!

I am sorry about how these pictures are scattered everywhere. Blogspot is not cooperating with me tonight and I am just too tired to argue with it.

Thanks for stopping by,

Teresa

29031

Twisted Pinwheels

2011-06-16T06:58:00.002-04:00

Saturday was the monthly meeting of Stitchin' Friends - my quilt club. This is my favorite day of the month as we always have so much fun and it is just good to have that time of fellowship.

This Saturday I taught making the Twisted Pinwheels quilts with the Offset Square Template. I must admit, I was not too happy with this template when I first bought it. The instructions come with a picture of the block layout like the one you see on the cover, and instructions that basically say lay the template on the fabric, cut the fabric out, sew the pieces together.

So I go to my favorite source, Google, and found that many other women were having the same problems I was with the template. I contacted the designer, and she responded that the instructions that come with the template are all there are, but she did give me one very helpful hint that I will relay in a minute. Once I figured out how to make the quilt, it was simple and I just love making these now. I see a Christmas table runner in my future.

So here is the way I am putting it together:

The template has no marking of which is the top and which is the bottom. You can use it either way, but you have to be consistent or pinwheels twist in different directions. So I laid the pinwheel on the one of the cover, to determine which was the correct side, and put a dimensional sticker on that side. Problem solved. My sticker is close to the center, but I had my group put their closer to the bottom right corner. What is interesting about this template is that it has two right angles and it can be confusing which one goes on the straight of grain. You have to study the picture closely to figure this out, but its the smallest side and the corresponding right angle that you line up on the straight of grain so that your block will not have bias on the outer edges. So move the sticker to the bottom right corner to remind you how to line it up.

Next I made a "block board" covering a 7.5" square of cardboard with white flannel, then drawing the template on each corner of the board, just like the block goes together. This is extremely helpful when laying out your blocks. I made two for each for the club members, but they wanted more so they could layou the entire row.

It is important that when you cut out your fabric wedges, that all layers of the fabric have the right side up. Do not fold the fabric, as your pinwheels will be twisting in different directions if you do. I cut out 7.5 inch fabric squares, then cut the four wedges for the pinwheel out of each 7.5" square, hardly any fabric waste doing it this way. You cut the wedges out in the same order as shown on the block board.

3.. Here is the fabric laid out on the block:

I am doing my block scrappy style, so each of my wedges are different. You have to remember if you are wanting to add a border, on the top, bottom and side rows you have to add border wedges in the correct positions. I gave each member the layout for the table runner, and it sure helped to see where the border blocks go.

Further, I recommend that when making these block, you only sew together one block at a time. It is easy to get the wedge pieces out of order. They go together really fast though, kind of like making a four patch. The two sides you sew together are not the same length. You line the corner up that is in the center of the block, and there will be a little tail hanging off the outside edge, but it will be straight. Sorry no picture on that one.

4. The designer told me not to press any of the seams on the block until I had it all sewn together as this would minimize stretching along the bias. I tried this, and it really does help.

If you would like a .pdf copy of the instruction sheet I gave out at the meeting which includes fabric requirements for the table runner, a lapsize quilt and a full size quilt and a picture of the table runner layout, just send me a note at jqd@comporium.net and I will put one in the mail to you.

Here's some pictures of the various fabrics the ladies used. Some got a away before I could take pictures. The variety was great!

Carol's

Cheryls'

Brenda's

Linda's - she finished hers at home!

Vicki's

Mary's

This one is mine, hanging on my design wall at home. It will be a full size quilt.

And finally a little show (if you are still with me)

Brenda's Mariner's compass

Darlene's Double Wedding Ring that was started several months ago as a table runner. She turned hers into a quilt for her daughter who recently married.

The white border you see has a Bible verse, hand embroidered around the border of the quilt from I Corinthians.

And she hand quilted it, beautifully!

Its truely an amazing quilt and Darlene has only been quilting for about a year now!!!!!

T-t-t-t-hat's all, folks,

Teresa

28265

Lots of work in progress!

2011-05-29T11:57:00.000-04:00

I just had to share this picture with you all. One morning, I came out to go to work and this is what I found on my car window. The detail of this "eagle" image was amazing - you could actually see the outlines of the feathers. What you cannot see, is the fine drawing in the center of the bird's beak and head - I promise it looked just like an eagle, but much smaller. My sister-in-law spotted a blue bird pecking at my side mirrow a couple of days later, and I guess that is what made the image, but it sure got my day off to a good start. Unfortunately, there was no one home at the time for me to share this with. :(

The last 6 weeks, all I have accomplished in the quilting area is hand quilting on my circus stars quilt and English paper piecing my hexies. I am getting close to having all the stars quilted and that is exciting. Also, I only have a couple more rows of hexies to make and then I can start working on the borders. Yea!

The reason for all the handwork is that this is what my sewing room looks like and this is what all my stuff looks like. (well some, there are several piles like this). Its an unsettling mess at my house right now, with workmen in and out, piles of my and my husband's "stuff" in every room except the bathrooms and kitchen. I keep telling myself, its going to be so nice when it is all done...WHENever that will be. We have a great contractor, and he is doing excellent quality work, so I just need to be patient - so everyone keeps telling me.

I have made good use of having all my stuff out where I can see it, as I have started organizing and giving away and throwing away - all those things that you plan to get around to some day. Here is the start of the shelving unit that goes back into the storage closet. Progress is definitely being made in that area and that feels soooooooo good.

So that is my life right now - living in a construction zone. I am not complaining, ok, maybe a little complaining. My heart goes out to all those people who have lost their homes and loved ones and are dealing with days on end with no power and total destruction of neighborhoods.

Teresa
28127

Slow zone

2011-05-10T19:51:00.001-04:00

Ever notice how time seems to fly, but construction work just get slower and slower. In all fairness to our contractor though, we had a little hail storm come through here that put a halt to the planned work on the house, in order to replace the roof on our house and my parents house.

Here is where we are in the renovation as of this afternoon. New roof, completed porch, nearly all railing done, shutters on front of house, door painted. Still need gutters, windows and wood trim wrapped with vinyl, some trellis work along ramp and step, but hey its almost done! On to the sides and back.

Not much sewing going on. Everything is packed up and moved to other parts of the house. All that is left in my sewing area is my desk, chair and computer. My husband's area is nearly as bare, and my design wall is looking pretty drab. But we are making progress and I can hardly wait to start putting it all back together. I have stuff to give away, throw away and put away(much more neatly). I have been using this time to quilt on my Circus Stars quilt and it is almost 3/4 done - woohoo.

And finally, just to add to all the fun in our neighborhood, we have been invaded by Cicada bugs. They only come out from underground every 13 years and they make a terrible racket. According to Wikipedia, the noise they make is their mating "music" and once the female lays her 200+ eggs, the little Cicadas drop to the ground, burrow their way underground and don't reappear until thirteen years later when they take on this lovely appearance. They actually come out of this skin and turn into soemthing totally different - check out Cathi's blog, Shakerwood Primitives, to see what the Cicada looks like after it sheds its shell.

That's all my news for today. Lets say a prayer for the folks in Alabama, Virginia and along the Mississippi River. We are being threatened with another hail storm tonight, but that is nothing compared to the raging flood waters along the Mississippi and the devasting tornados that Alabama and Virginia endured.

God Bless,

Teresa

27573

Sewing Zen Workshop

2011-04-28T06:50:00.003-04:00

Had wonderful time at the Sewing Zen workshop, put on by Jane Garrison of YLI and her sister-in-law, who is a Bernina educator. If they are ever in your area, definitely take this workshop - and consider having your guild invite them!

We spent most of the morning learning about our machine and its inner workings and how to choose the correct needle for the thread of choice. I have wondered for years what that felt disc that came with my machine was for, and now I know! Also, do you know when to use the vertical versus the horizontal thread spindle? Its the little things which make a big difference in your quilting.

We spent the remainder of the workshop (6 hour workshop) playing with the threads, choosing the correct needle for the thread, using different weight threads in the bobbin versus on top and just having fun. I never knew you could use that delicate silk thread in machine quilting or that the metallic thread could be used without it breaking constantly! Here are the practice "quilts" I worked on. My machine quilting has a way to go, but I did master getting the tension balanced with different weight threads and that was a major accomplishment for me.

The renovation continues. We have the ramp on the front done now, and onward they move to the old porch, adding new railing, poles and covering everything in pretty white vinyl. There will also be dark green shutters added as well as a paint on the door.

See that antenna on the roof? We have had cable for at least 20 years now! That antenna will be coming down as the new roof goes up, which should start today if the weather plays nice. We are under tornado watch as I type this, so not looking too good. Maybe this afternoon.

Hope you all have a good day and thanks for stopping by,

Teresa

27320

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T18:14:00.000-04:00

Happy Easter to you all. I hope you have had as enjoyable a weekend as I have.

Between two family gatherings, an egg hunt, wonderful church service and and sittng under the shade tree there has not been much sewing going on here.

I did get ready for a workshop tomorrow with Jane Garrison, of YLI. This workshop is called Sewing Zen and its all about how to use different threads and needles in machine work. Hopefully after the workshop, I will no longer be afraid to adjust my tension!

Construction continues on the house. Here is the porch after Day 2.

And this is after Day 3.

These were both short days, as there were rain delays in the morning, and special Easter activities in the late afternoon.

But its coming along very nicely!

Thanks for stopping by,
Teresa
27219

Timber !

2011-04-22T21:16:00.002-04:00

Don't you just love an Oak Tree? One that gives lots of shade and is so nice to sit under during those hot summer days. This tree, as you can see, dwarfs our house and if you look real close you can see the branches are touching our roof. I just love this tree - but unfortunately its time has come to go.

With the recent hail storm and high winds, we found that we have roof damage and will have to replace the roof. The limbs, while not the main cause (that would be the hail), are contributing to the decline in the roof. Also - during those high winds, we had a fear that one of those limbs, or maybe even the tree was going to crash through our roof.

So it had to go. I was at work the day, but my daughter captured the event in pictures. Here is the big hole it left in our landscape once gone. I was thrilled that they were able to save the dogwood!

And see the peek at our renovation?

We are adding on to the porch. We had already hired a builder to do this work for us, before the hail storm. So he has just added the roof to his work plan.

A before picture of our house. The ramp was a hurry up job we did so that we could get my Dad in and out of the house when he had his stroke and was confined to a wheel chair.

The paint continued to mildew, no matter what kind we used, and it was just a horrible eyesore. Now that I was not sorry to see go.

And here we are, at the end of Day 1 - old ramp gone - new porch started.

We have a good many plans in this renovation project, including covering all the wood trim and siding on the back of the house with vinyl - no more painting. Can you tell we are getting ready for retirement?

Stay tuned....more pictures tomorrow.

There is a wonderful exhibit in Rock Hill now called Quilts Tell Stories. If you are in the area before the end of the month, you should really check it out.

This quilt just blew me away. Its hard to see in this picture, but it is a YoYO quilt. I show this view in hopes that you will get an idea of how big the quilt is.

The YoYo's are only the size of a dime! There are over 18,000 yoyos. Can you believe that! And here is a picture of the lovely quilter. Click on the picture and you should be able to read the story of the quilt.

I will close with one more picture - this one of one of my quilts that is on display. Its queen size and I call ir Christmas Beauty. I designed it in EQ, paperpieced the blocks and machine quilted it on my home sewing machine.

Teresa

27160

All Hail broke loose tonight!

2011-04-09T23:11:00.001-04:00

Unbelievable!!! I have never seen hail this big before. I stood on my porch and "listened" to it come. The sky was so weird, and then it started getting colder and then I heard the racket coming through the woods.

My husband scooped these up from out front yard after the storm passed. absolutely incredible.

A couple of hours later, another storm came through, much smaller hail this time, but the winds and rain were something else. The roof in my sewing room started leaking, never has before, so I am afraid we may have some roof damage.

I want to send out a thank you to Janet at A Hug Delights. I won a one year subscription to Quick Quilts, offered as a give away on her blog. I just love reading Janet's blogs about farm life in South Dakota. So different from the life style I lead, but we share a common interest in quilting. Drop on over to her blog and see all the snow!

My quilt club, Stitchin Friends met today. We were small in number today, but big in fellowship and good times. We worked on our double wedding ring table runner and I promised to show how the rows go together on my blog, as we did not get quite that far in today's class.

Half my design wall is yellow, the other half white - so that is why it looks so odd.

The table runner has three rows - as I have labeled them in the picture. I think there are probably several ways you can put this together, but this is the way I am doing it.

How about this Darlene R - you do have to make some of the complete circles - see you did it right after all.

Row 1 is composed of two blocks.

The first block just has two melons sewn to the center piece, to the left and top sides.

The second block has all four melons sewn on.

Make sure you check the order of the melons as you sew them on to make sure you have alternating colors in the four patches where you join the melons.

Row 2 is made up of three blocks.

The first block has all four melon pieces sewn on. Now this can be tricky - just make sure you have four patch blocks in the correct order, or you are going to be ripping it.

The sescond block just has two melons pieces, sewn on the right and bottom.

The third block just as two melons pieces sewn on the top and right sides.

Finally the third row has two blocks.

The first block has just has two melon pieces, one on the left and one on the bottom.

The second block all four melon pieces sewn on.

Maybe tomorrow I will have all three rows sewn together and hopefully it will all fit.

Happy Stitchin,

Teresa

26789

Now how did that get there??????

2011-04-05T23:48:00.001-04:00

Have you ever gotten something caught in your quilt sandwich and discovered an unusual bump once the quilting was done?

Think about just leaving it there as a kind of curiousity for the future?

Hmmmmmm....well I did...see that kind of odd shaped bump there?

It's hard, too!

After about 15 minutes of picking (but not grinning - remember HeeHaw?) I started to get a peek at what my "treasure" was. Going to have to actually remove some of the quilting though to get it out - now that is a real shame. I worked hard getting those quilting stitches in there.

Now how the heck did that get in there! I think have a screw loose somewhere :(

I finished quilting this top on my John Flynn frame. Several of you have mention that you are waiting to hear how I liked it. The jury is still out on that one. It definitely has its limitations, the operator being the main one. I need to practice more before I can decide if I like it or not.

I found it cumbersome to keep the rollers from rolling off the table, and the quilting area to be very restrictive. Basically you can quilt around a 6 inch wide strip across the width of your quilt before you have to roll the quilt back up and reveal another 6 inch wide strip to use. As you get towards the end of your quilt, the quilted quilt roll is all on the roller that is behind your needle and your quilting area becomes a little smaller.

On a more positive note, I found it kept the quilt very nice and tight without any pleats or wrinkles under the quilt. Once I unrolled the batting from the roller and let it hang free [don't we all like to hang free :) ] the process went a lot easier as I could see more of the quilting space and move the machine easier. I am thinking this will be a great tool for basting a quilt for hand quilting! I'll let you know how t goes the next time I try it out.

Saturday, we traveled to Charleston, SC to see Ellen (daughter) and Aaron (son) run in the Cooper River Bridge 10k run. There were 40,000 runners and it was amazing to see them all coming across the finish line. We missed my son coming across - it was really hard to spot them in the crowd - there were 700 people per minute according to the announcer coming by. Ellen is in the center of the picture waving. Notice the fence with the banners? I think the fence was a great idea with that many people coming across, you gotta keep them moving or a bottleneck forms real fast, but did they have to cover the fence with the banners - couldn't they have hung them a little lower so we could actually see our loved ones cross the finish line??? We managed to find a high spot to watch, but that is why the picture is so far a way. No time to zoom in as they were moving right along.

Thanks for stopping by,

Teresa

26682

Flynn Quilt Frame

2011-03-28T16:37:00.000-04:00

About a year ago, I purchased the John Flynn Quilt Frame that you can use with your home sewing machine. Life just got in the way though, and I did not get around to actually trying it until this past week. It comes with this little cd to teach you how to use it, and pay close attention to the picture....there will be a quiz later. (You might want to double click and enlarge it.)

I actually had the priviledge of meeting Mr.Flynn when I purchased my frame and he had one set up and it seemed sooooooo easy! Famous last words!

So I set all the pieces out, and even attached the fabric to the rollers - I am already to set it up for quilting. Just have to attach my quilt to the fabric on the rollers.

Four hours later, and I am so frustrated, I can not get the fabric to roll up on the rollers straight. I finally unsew the quilt from the fabric strips, remove the fabric strips from the rollers, and low and behold.......this is what I discover.....

The fabric that came with the kit was not cut straight! Now you would think I would have had sense enough to check that BEFORE I attached it to the rollers. I guess I was just too excited about getting it on so I could attach my quilts.

I must admit, I did wonder why my fabric was not centered on the roller - but it never ocurred to me to make sure it was the same width on each end.

So after re-attaching the quilt to the rollers for the tenth time, ok I exaggerate a little - maybe 5th time, I am ready to start quilting.

Looks impressive, don't you think?

Now what is wrong with this picture? This is the quiz - what have I done wrong???? I struggled with this for a couple of hours as I somewhat meandered the quilting on my quilt. Then the tension messed up, and I had to take it off, and of course that was it for me. I set it aside for another day.

It was not until I decided to post on this blog, that I see the error of my ways. Do you see it yet? Look at the picture on the cd again. Where is that darn role of batting supposed to be?

Yep, that's right, its should be the outside roll, and the quilt backing the inside roll, which would make it sooooooooo much easier to see what I am quilting. Duh moment here.

Another thing I learned is that you don't want to do this on a table with curved corners, so I am switching to a rectangular table. I am going to give it another try as soon as I get off here, so stayed tuned and I will give my final verdict on this contraption.

On a much less stressful note, Spring is just blooming everywhere even if it has been right chilly the last few days. Here is the dogwood right outside my home, and here is the makings of my flower bed. We have some very capable hands redoing the wall around the beds and then they are going to thin out the monkey grass. The back bed will be turned into a rose bed. I have been wanting that for a very long time. There are a few roses in there now that my Dad and I planted together. The guys had to stop work when it started raining, and it hasn't stopped so maybe in a few days we can see some more progress.

Thanks for stopping by,

Teresa

26443

My Dad

2011-03-21T19:36:00.002-04:00

Here's my Dad, Paul Rutherford, taken when he was in the Marines stationed at Oahu, Hawaii. He was stationed there right after the Pearl Harbor attack and this is where he met my Mom, who was also a Marine. He and Mom were married 63 years and he would have been 89 years old this month.

I always liked this picture as I think it shows a little of his spunk and I think he looks so very handsome. But then, I always thought my Dad was a handsome man, with beautiful twinkling blue eyes.

The last few years have been difficult for him, confned to a bed or wheelchair due to Parkinsons Disease and Diabetes. He yearned to be in his flower beds and workshop and being confined was like a prison for him. Well he broke free of the chains on Friday, March 11 at 12:55 am. I had the blessing of being with him when he took that last breath and felt a great loss for myself and my family, but joy for my Dad in that is was finally set free.

Last Fall, my Dad told me he had been talking to God all night about why he was still here, and that God told him he would be coming home in the Spring. Well the calendar may have said that Spring was a few days away, but the weather was beautiful and was the closest thing to Spring that I could imagine. I guess God has a different schedule for His seasons than our calendars show.

Here is picture of my Mom and Dad that was taken around 24 years ago. All the grandkids are grown now and four of them have children of their own. This is another favorite picture as my Dad and Mom loved their grandkids and were always there to help out when they needed to be picked up after school or needed some TLC.

God is good and blessed me with wonderful parents that taught me the importance of faith, service, family and being a good person. They may be gone in body, but they live on in our lives.

I don't have anything new to share with you in my quilting, but I have taken solace in my handwork, quilting on my Circus Stars and making my Hexagons. Maybe soon I will have something to share.

Teresa
26278

Twisted Pinwheels

2011-03-09T20:10:00.000-05:00

Here I go again, getting all excited about a new pattern when I promised myself that I would not start anything else new until I had finished my three main projects. But I do like this pattern, and why make a table runner, when what I really want is a blue and white quilt.

This is my drawing in EQ7. I have already figured up my yardage and now just need to get the fabrics. I won't be able to start this until May, so I have time to work on the other projects some.

Wonder if I could finish hand quilting my Circus Stars by May???

we will be using the twisted pinwheel tool which came with very limited instructions. Kind of like place template on fabric, cut out fabric. I cut a few out last night just to see how many wedges I could get out of one strip of fabric. Learned a valuable lesson - you have to have all layers of fabric right side up. So now I have pinwheels spinning in two different directions - kind of sounds like my life at times.

The rest of this post is mostly for Stitchin Friends Quilt club, but you are welcome to follow along.

Ladies, I will miss you Saturday, but I KNOW you are all working on your assignment and getting your arcs finished and your background cut out. For those of you that have already completed your assignment (Mary) here is the next step.

I already have this step done on all of mine, so pretend you don't see that seam line. Pin the melon shape to one of the arc that does not have corner blocks sewn on each end. You should have 20 melons and 20 arcs with no corner blocks.

Match the center line you drew on the melon with the center seam of the arc....pin. Match the straight ends of the melon with the end of the arcs - pin. Now sew the melon to the arc, making sure you keep the outer edges even. You should end up with something that looks like this. Press the seam toward the melon.

Next you will sew the other side of the melon to the arcs that have corner blocks on the end.

Once again, pin the center seam to the center seam on the arc, and then pin the ends together.

Note that then edge of the last arc piece is pinned to the edge corner block. I place pins at each seam, to keep the seam lying flat when I sew the pieces together. Once you sew the seam, your finished piece should look like this. So there you have it, once you have that, you are all set for our April meeting. When done, you should have 20 arcs that look like this one.

Good luck and don't fret if you don't understand it. We'll go over it at the April meeting.

Teresa

25928

Will the pieces fit??????

2011-02-28T21:13:00.000-05:00

All the pieces are cut - but will they fit together ? The quilt club that I belong to, Stitchin' Friends (yep, same name as my blog - can you tell I like it?) is working on a double wedding ring table runner. At our meeting this month, we made the arcs and at the March meeting, we are to complete the arcs and cut out the centers and melon pieces. I can't be at the March meeting because of the Quilters of SC Spring meeting, so I have already cut mine out. I am so excited about this project, which will be a table runner. I selected my fabrics to match my dishes and I think it is going to look so cool.

Here is the picture of the pieces in the correct layout. So far so good - but then I have not tried to sew them together yet. Just seeing them at this point though makes me want to crank up the sewing maching and get 'er done.

I debated on the background fabric, but found this particular fabric at the Springs Creative sale this past week at $2/yard - so I took a chance that it would work and I really think it is perfect.

Now the next two pictures are for the members in my club, but of course I will share with you too - although they may not mean much. In cutting out the melons and centers I folded the template in half, marked the center line and then transferred the center line to the back side of the fabric. I am hoping that this will make the piecing go a little more accurate and easier. Not sure you can see the lines on the fabric, but they are there. I started to make them darker but was afraid they would show through on my fabric. Hopefully you get the idea. try clicking on the picture to enlarge it and maybe you can see the lines better.

Happy stitching,

Teresa

25643

Finishing the Edge

2011-02-22T22:42:00.000-05:00

A few of you have asked me how I am going to finish off the edge of my Granny's Posies quilt. This is how the outer edge looks after I join the rows. I want to add a border and then quilt as usual, so my first step is to make it a straight edge.

To do that, I have to remove the tacks I put in the outside of the corners, and press the the hexies flat.

Next I stay stitch right right along the line where the hexies meet. I sew two rows of stay stitching to give it added strength.

Then I measure 3/4 inch from the outer edge of the hexie. This measurement would depend on the size hexie you have made and it is approximately 1/2 the width of the hexie.

Finally I trim off off the excess, and there you have it...a nice straight edge to add a border.

I have been at retreat this past weekend and had a wonderful time. I took my camera and of course did not take pictures, except for one quilt I was fascinated with. This one will definitely go on my bucket list. The quilt looks so complicated, but when you see the blocks up close, they almost look like a modified rail fence, with the center rail split diagonally. I think I can do this!

We did have some excitement Saturday night as the cabins had a little septic backup at 11:30pm and we had to be moved to another location. So here we go - all us senior ladies with our pillows and blankies parading around the campground in our jammies. Hmmm..maybe the midnight parade can become an annual event!

I didn't finish anything at retreat to show you, but I did make progress....I am now over half done with quilting on my Circus Stars, I completed another row for my Granny's Posies quilt and I finished my third flower block on my Cottage Grove quilt - and I think that is pretty darn good!

Happy Stitchin!

Teresa
25471

And the winners are...

2011-02-14T21:47:00.001-05:00

Joan P (no email, no blog) and Floss.

Thank you to those who entered the drawing, you have no idea how much it pleased me that you would want my pattern. Also, thank each of you that had nice comments about the pattern, even though you didn't enter into the drawing. I do understand how you can get just too many projects in the works.

I pulled two names and they were Floss and Joan. I emailed Floss to get her address, and I need for you Joan to email me and let me know how to get your pattern to you. (jqd@comporium.net)

Its been a pretty bad week at work - working over and the weekend was busy with club meeting and family stuff, so don't have much on the quilting front to share.

So I will wish you all a Happy Valentines Day, and see you next week. I will be heading for retreat on Thursday - Yippee!

Teresa

Pattern give-away

2011-02-08T06:01:00.000-05:00

Yea....I finally finished it.

I love designing quilts and making them, but then I try to write the pattern and instructions and I hit a brick wall. Its so much harder to put in words and pictures how to make a quilt than it is to just make it.

But I finished the pattern for my Welcome Wall Hanging and thought I would share my bliss of having it done with my blog followers. I plan to give away two of the patterns, so if you would like one, just leave me a comment. I will draw two names, a week from today.

Someone requested to see my Dear Jane Signature Block swap quilt, so here it is. Kind of hard to get a good picture with it lying on the floor, but hopefully you get the idea.

The label on the back of the quilt lists the countries and States of origin of the blocks.

There are 13 countries (including USA) represented and 41 States.

I just love looking at the blocks and when it is hanging in my office it sure draws the attention.

I wonder if I have blocks from any of you???? If you participated in a DJ Siggy swap, please let me know, I want to search my quilt to see if your name is one there!

And just a note of progress I am making on my handwork. The three main quilts I am working on are all involving handwork so the progress is slow, but very enjoyable and that is what counts.

I have 75 hexies made and sewn together, need 165 for the body of this quilt. I am toying with the idea of a picket fence border with tiny hexagon flowers. Have to play around with that though a little longer.

I have 2 of my flower block appliqued on the Cottage Grove quilt, and have completed the quilting on 28 of the 65 stars on my Circus Stars Quilt. Its nice to see them progressing, but I will not bore you with pictures each time. The retreat that I was to go to in January was postponed because of the snow, which was a major disappointment for me. But hey....its coming up this month - next week!!! I can hardly wait and hopefully you will see a lot more progress on these three projects after retreat. This year I am only taking handwork, which will be nice not to have to load up half my sewing room .

Thanks for stopping by and keep stitching, and be sure to leave a coment if you want a chance to win a pattern.
Teresa
25066

Applique Process

2011-01-16T19:43:00.001-05:00

Snow is still on the ground and now it is in my kitchen, too. I finished this little wall hanging yesterday. Its featured in the BH&G American Patchwork and Quilting 2011 Calendar for January. I make wall hangings to hide the fuse box cover in my kitchen and had leave off one of the borders to get it to fit in the space.

Today, my daughter and her family came over for lunch after church and I caught this picture of our newest family member, Taralyn, who celebrated birthday #1 in November. Typical of one year olds, she is not still for long and typical of this Granny, I don't take pictures very fast, so she is in this rather awkward pose reaching for a ball she was plying with. My daughter made her outfit - isn't she a doll!

Conntinuing the pledge to show process on my blog, I thought I would show how I finished prepping my applique block. In the prior post, I showed how I apply the freezer paper and fold the piece edges over the paper and iron in place.

I also cut bias strips for the stems, pressed with the seam open on the outside, such that when I pin it is place, the seam is not seen.

I found this to be too bulky and had to trim the seam to keep the raw edge from showing from under the applique. Not good.

So I decided to just cut the seam out all together. (I have got to remember to redo my nails BEFORE I do these closeups!)

I cut the seam away such that approximately 1/8 inch was left of the folded over edge.

This has worked out great to remove the bulk from under the applique.

The white lines you see in the background are chalk lines I drew diagonally across the block for stem placement.

The next step was to remove the freezer paper from the flowers and leaves. Now this is a another new step for me, as I usually leave the paper in, cut a slit in the background fabric after the piece is appliqued down and pull the paper out through the slit.

I decided to try something different by removing the paper first, then basting the pieces in place prior to doing the needle turn applique. By first pressing the pieces on the freezer paper, my folds are set and this should make the needle turn process so much easier - at least that is my thinking at this point. We'll see how it goes.

And here is the block, read for applique with all pieces basted in place.

My mom used to tell me to always baste my pieces in place when doing blanket stitch applique, using thread that matched the applique and to leave the basting stitches in to strengthen the applique. Of course your basting stitches had to be smaller and neater than mine in this piece.

I have used this concept, but I will be removing these stitches once the needle turn is complete. Therefore I made bigger stitches and used a contrast thread color.

So there you have my progress on this block. I just love this pattern (see prior post) and am looking forward to doing a little needle turn applique on this block.

Hope your Sunday was a relaxing one and thank you for stopping by,

Teresa

24484

Snow Day Fun...

2011-01-10T16:33:00.001-05:00

So what did you do today in the snow? Go walking and shake the snow off trees like we did as kids, take pictures of the snow, make snowmen or snowangels or maybe go sledding? NOT ME - I enjoy the snow from the window. I took advantage of a snow day from work to prep an applique project I have been wanting to get started. I think I watched 5 episodes of Golden Girls after I got tired of the weather reports over and over again.

So here is what I accomplished:

This is my pattern - Cottage Grove by the Quilt Company. I am using the Fancy Hill Farm fabric by Robyn Randolph in reds and greens for my quilt. I did have to add a few greens to get enough for the leaves, but for the most part, all the fabric will be from this collection.

I prep my applique pieces with freezer paper. Cutting each shape out of the paper, and then placing the paper on the back side of the fabric with the shiny side up. Using a mini iron, I fold the fabric over the paper, ironing it down so it sticks. Here is the finished leaf, all edges neatly turned under and ready to applique down. The pattern calls for these to be fused down, but I prefer needle turned so no raw edges.

This is the block I will work on first. The pieces are just lying against the background fabric. I also made a bunch of 1/2 inch bias strips to use as the stems and and vines in the borders.

For the quilt, I had to prep 80 leaves, 8 big flowers, 2 small flowers, 8 rosebuds and circles for all. It took me all morning, but was so much fun working on this while watching the snow falling outside my window.

This project will go with me to retreat on Thursday. I can't wait!!!!

Hope you have had a good day,

Teresa
24292

Lazy cats

2011-01-09T09:21:00.000-05:00

We are under a winter storm watch and just the thought of snow and ice makes me want to curl up in my favorite chair and read or quilt or nap - anything but go out in the cold. Apparently my cats have the same idea....

Here's Felicia in one of her favorite perches - a top the cable box. I guess she likes a warm bed, but you would think she would want a soft one, too.

Felicia is deaf and rules the house.

And then there is Topsy, Felicia's daughter. She prefers to curl up in front of the heating vents - but at least the carpet is softer than the cable box. Topsy used to have a grey smudge on top of her head that looked like she had been playing in the fireplace.

Topsy is going blind. She is the sweetest most humble cat I believe I have ever known.

Then we have Leah, aka Leo. Now she has the right idea - lying on top of a soft pillow, on a bed covered by one of my mom's applique quilts - right where she knows she is NOT supposed to be.

Leah is a big cat, and is the most aggravating of them all. She is also the baby of the three and is not related and therefore treated as an outcast by Felicia and Topsy. She "followed" my son home from church one day (approx 3 miles walk). He later confessed that he might have carried her part of the way. She did look pitiful when he brought her home and he had found her on the side of the road. I wonder if she would "follow" him home now to his house?

These cats will probably outlive me!

Hope you have a nice Sunday,
Teresa

Old Projects...new projects....

2011-01-08T21:06:00.000-05:00

I have not been blogging much lately, but have been keeping up todate in my blog reading. I have seen all kinds of new years resolutions, posts with lists of ufo's and resolutions to complete projects before starting new projects. I just can't bring myself to list my ufo's or resolve not to start anything new. I wish you all much success in keeping your resolutions and I can't wait to see all the projects you finish up.

My resolution this year is to enjoy what I do and not rush through it. This is a good thing as the projects I have going right now are all handwork, and that always takes me longer to get done.

I have been working away on my hexies. I have five rows made so far on my "Granny's Posies" quilt and am having the best time making these little darlings.

I did finish a table runner made form the Jenny Beyer fabric I purchased in the fall.

Here's a close up of the center...I just love this fabric!

Note the pretty candle holders? those are a Christmas gift from my good friend Darlene - thank you, I love them! I think I saw a large crystal bluebird at Hobby Lobby that would look so pretty setting on this runner.

And yes, I have started a new project. This is a Double Wedding Ring table runner that I will be making with my quilt club - Stitchin' Friends. We met today and talked about fabrics, and I gave them their homework assignment to purchase their fabrics, and cut the strips. Here is my homework sheet.

I shopped at Mary Jo's, QBee Quilts and Hobby Lobby, looking for the perfect fabric. Just wasn't satisfied with anything I found. Since it is going to be a table runner for the dining room, I got one of my dishes, went through my stash, and found the perfect FQ's for this project. Better yet - it was a FQ pack I won a couple of years ago!

Here's wishing you all a wonderful new year. Fill your hours with projects you enjoy and save the others for another time...when you will enjoy them again.

Teresa
24185

Happy Thanksgiving - a few days late

2010-11-28T21:51:00.000-05:00

Wow...this holiday has just flown by. Thanksgiving has come and gone and Christmas right around the corner. I just don't know where the days go. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with family blessings and lots of peace and relaxing. I have enjoyed this time off work and managed to get some sewing done, decorations mostly are up for Christmas and have watched countless movies on the Hallmark Channel. Life is good.

I began quilting on my Circus Stars quilt, and will share one of the blocks on front and the way the back is shaping up. I am using the "big stitch" or utility stitch and had some trouble starting out - actually had to take out my quilting many times on the first block. I am getting my stitches much straighter now, just need to work on getting them consistent in length. I really do enjoy this method. I think the back of the quilt is going to look neat - maybe not neat stitches, but I like the look and feel of it.

I also began putting together my supplies to make a Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt. Took me several days to cut out all the flower fabrics as I wanted them all different. Gathered up my supplies, cut out all my hexagon paper foundations and finished the first row. I am enjoying this process and have not stitched one stitch my machine in quite awhile. I think my sewing machine is feeling neglected.

So that is it for now. Back to work tomorrow and into the routine. At some point I have got to get some shopping done. No way was I going to face the Black Friday mess. I did go out some on Saturday, but just to go by a quilt shop and Hobby Lobby to get some decorations. All in all, its been a great Thanksgiving, and I thank God for the many blessings in my life of family, friends and home.

Teresa

23198

And the winner is.....

2010-11-14T18:29:00.000-05:00

Joyce, of One Loose Thread blog. As soon as I receive the snail mail address it will be making its way to your home. Joyce is a fellow South Carolinian, who I have not had the pleasure of meeting ...so maybe I will get to see this quilt finished and meet the quilter too! What a prize that would be for me.

This has been a fun weekend, starting with a pajama party sponsored by the York County Quilters. Thank you Linda for all the work you put into the party and it sure was fun. (I forgot my camera - no pictures.) Mary put together a mystery quilt project for us, and while I didn't quite get it finished, I did end up with two stacks of really cute blocks. These were to make a rail fence type quilt, but I have a different idea rumbling around in my head, so decided to set them aside until I make up my mind.

While at the party, I finished block 9 (the last one) of the Gifts of Grace exchange. I have so enjoyed making these sweet blocks, thank you Val Laird for freely sharing your designs. I have visions of applique butterflies, flowers and birds winging around these pretty blocks, inspired by Beth Ferrier. If you check out her block, its the banner at the top of the blog. I purchased that pattern off her website and have been looking for the perfect quilt to use it on. Of course, she designed a gorgeous quilt pattern using the applique, but for those of you that know me, I seldom follow other people's patterns, just have to modify them or use pieces of them.

But in this case, I did follow the pattern given to me by Cathi. Cathi is in Stitchin Friends, a quilt club that I am a member in too. Cathi recently won a Go-cutter and demo'ed it for us at Saturday's meeting. She was so generous to cut us all a dresden plate block to take home with us, and then to also give us a pattern for making this cute wall hanging, or in my case it will be a table topper. We all brought our own fabric and got to use her go-cutter (Cathi did all the cutting - we're a lazy bunch). I finished mine up early this morning and have it ready to use - and I do love it! Check out Cathi's blog and see how nice hers turned out as well.

Hope you have all had a great weekend and relaxing Sunday.
Teresa 22788

"Let Freedom Ring" Give-a-way

2010-11-07T19:44:00.000-05:00

I am home from Washington and still feeling that patriotic pride that I always get when we have elections in this country. I don't approve of all the mudslinging campaigns, but you have to admit, the freedom to vote your conscience is something we should take pride in and never for granted.

I won this pattern at the Quilters of SC Retreat a few weeks ago. As much as I like the pattern, I know I will never make it, so I thought, what better time of year to place it in the hands of someone that will make it. So I am giving it away. Just leave me a post that you would like to have it, and I will draw a name on Sunday, Nov.14. (Please make sure I have a way to contact you - either via blog or email.)

I thought I would share with you the process I go through to thread baste a quilt for handquilting. I am so happy to have this one finally at that stage. Today I had to piece the backing and batting, and once done, I laid the quilt sandwich (backing-batting-top) on the floor - just to make sure I had the top somewhat centered in the sandwich. But no way am I going to try to baste this on the floor - I dont' think my knees or back to take it.

So I carefully fold the top and bottom ends into the center and carry it to my cutting table. Here is is on the table and I start with the center of the quilt first. I use those big binder clips to first fasten one side to the table. Once clipped in place, I fold back the top and batting layers and smooth out the backing, then I lay the batting down and make sure it is smooth, and then the top. Next step is to clip the top to the table on all four sides.

In basting the three layers together, I use some cheap thread that I have had way too long to remember, double thread the needle. I use a spoon to help with the basting, sticking the needle into the spoon which causes the needle to curve upwards and makes basting much easier. (Looks like I should have gotten a manicure before this picture was taken.)

Just to keep myself amused and hopefully from concentrating on the pain in my back from bending over the table for hours, I put a book on tape in the cd player. I find this really does help and today I basted for three hours without even realizing how long it had been. The book I am listening to is "The Heir" by Johanna Lindsey. I have not read (or listened) to her books before and got this one because it was on sale at Books a Million for $5.97. Its actually a pretty good book, so far.

So that is my process for thread basting a quilt. Next step - hand quilting!

Teresa

22513

Jenny Beyer Studio

2010-11-01T16:52:00.000-04:00

I have been wanting to visit this studio for years, and Saturday we left home early enough to get to Great Falls, Virginia so that I could visit before closing time. Oh, how I wish I lived close enough to take classes here.

I have admired Jenny Beyer quilts for some time now. Her use of color and design just continue to amaze me. The shop was filled with her quilts, fabrics and patterns and I was just in awe.

The staff were exceptionally friendly and helpful - it was a wonderful experience to visit this shop and I highly recommend it to anyone in the area - just outside of Washington, DC. They gave me permission to take pictures inside and I have a few to show, but my photographic skills, or maybe its my camera, are very lacking. But here are a few shots anyway.

I tried to get a shot of the view from our hotel window here in Washington, so I held the lens right up to the glass and turned off the flash. Its especially pretty at night when all the buildings are lit up and you can see the Washington Monument in the distance. The trees are gorgeous here now and there is a brilliant orange and yellow one below my window.

Speaking of trees - the colors in Virginia on the trip up are simply amazing. When we left Great Falls we came through McLean Va to get to DC - unbelievable mansions and all the colors of Fall - a very nice ride in.

And finally - someone asked if I had brought along some handwork, and well of course, what good quilter leaves home without some handwork? I had it all neat and tidy in my little plastic box and was going to take a picture to show you - but, when I reached for it - I dumped it all out on the floor. So here it is, crammed back into the box, somewhat in disarray.

The conference has been wonderful, I have learned tons of compliance policies that I wish I did not know at this point as I have my work cut out for me when I get back to work. Hope you all have a wonderful day tomorrow and don't forget to VOTE.

Teresa
22339

What were YOU thinking?????

2010-10-29T22:35:00.001-04:00

On my last post, I ended by saying I was running off to join the circus! Out of 297 hits on my blog since that post, only ONE person commented on my running off to join the circus, and that was Thimbleanna who was intrigued by the idea. One of my best friends did email me and ask what I was up to. Now really......were you not even curious? Did you think that was a perfectly normal thing for me to be doing? Maybe you figured out what I was up to, or just thought - You go girl!

Well, I have some pictures to show you from my joining the circus....Circus Stars that is.

Know what this is? Why its an empty project box - the operative word being EMPTY.

And here is my quilt top spread out on our bed. This is a queen size bed and the top completely covers it with at east a 14 inch drop on each side.

The next step will be to get it basted together so that I can start handquilting it. I plan to use the big stitch quilting with these absolutely gorgeous threads from YLI. Thank you Jane for helping me pick them out. These are Pearl Cotton #8 with wonderful names like Monet, VanGogh, Renoir, etc.

In the spirit of the process pledge, I want to show you one hint I came up with in the later stages of joining these stars together. Of course, I only had a few rows left when I came up with this, but it really helped these tired old eyes. Many of the joining seams had to exactly cross a seam joint which on some seams was not a problem to see, but where the fabric was black and I was using black thread - I could not see where the "crosshairs" were to make sure I hit it just right. I found that by taking a white chalk pencil and coloring the space where the "crosshairs" were, I could see with no problem where to sew across.

Well, that is it for now. In the morning I leave for the big circus - Washington, DC. I will be at a conference all week. [I voted absentee ballot.] I hope to work in a visit to the Jenny Beyer Studio. I mean really - all work and no play is not being politically correct.

Have a great week!

Teresa

22227

Mid October - Hard to believe!

2010-10-17T14:16:00.001-04:00

Yesterday, we had family pictures made and Fred and I did a touch of Christmas shopping! Can you believe Christmas is only about 9 weeks away! Life is just flying past and I so wish I could slow it down a little.

The month started out great, with the annual Quilters of SC retreat. I am probably the last person to blog about the retreat, and I don't have any pictures to show, but I can show you something I finished there.

Yeaaaaaaaaaaa...its my Be Attitudes quilt. Well, its almost finished - the top is done anyway.

It is a beautiful day today, so I took some pictues outside, and we have lots of trees in our yard, so please just look beyond the shadows.

I have finished all the coloring and embroidery on my Acorn and Oak leaf Wreath - at least one of them. I am making three which will eventually become a table runner. I will be doing a demonstration on this technique at guild meeting tomorrow night and needed some in various stages for demonstration purposes.

Another project finished is the September Gifts of Grace block - Gentleness (see sidebar for link). Just love the roses on thiss block!

Overseeing the photo shoot is Izzy - my daughter Ellen's little pooch.

We took the kids to see Toy Story Disney on Ice. We rode the Monorail, saw the show and finished the outing at McDonalds with chicken nuggets and icecream. It was a fun day!

From Left to right are Ellen, Tess (5), Malachi (almost 4), Timothy (4) and the Leader-of-the-Pack, Levi (7)

Hope you are all enjoying some beautiful Fall weather.

For me - I am running off to join the circus!!! More on that later......

Teresa
21930

Rain - Glorious Rain!

2010-09-26T18:45:00.002-04:00

Its been a nice Sunday afternoon, blessed by glorious rain! Seems like months since we saw a nice rain and according to the weatherman, more is on the way. We can sure use it, so I hope our Weatherman is right this time!

This morning started early with fresh brewed coffee and a peaceful house, meaning I was the only one up at 5:00am. I colored this fall wreath of oak leaves and acorns. I adapted the pattern from a design offered Patti R. Anderson of patchpieces, who so graciously offered it free for personal use or use with your guild. I plan to use it in a demo to my guild next month and was so pleased to find something with a Fall theme. I hope to eventually turn this into either a table runner (I had to make three for my demo) or use one of them to make a small wall hanging.

After visiting with my Dad, I played around with some English Paper Piecing, making Grandmother's Flower Garden blocks. I know mine are just tiny flowers, but they have room to grow. These are so much fun! I have been working on my klosjes as well, and finished up 8 of them this weekend.

Hope you have all had a lovely day,

Happy stitchin'
Teresa
21616

A question for all my smart quilting buddies

2010-09-19T21:03:00.001-04:00

Today was a fun day of putting up the Spring decorations and getting out the Fall. There was an issue with some missing pilgrims and indians, but we found them hiding in the closet - not where they were supposed to be! Now how did that happen???

A quilt to hang in the dining room in fall colors was definitely needed, but the only one I have that fits is not quite quilted....I have about 1/3 done. You see, I started quilting it, and then decided I did not like the quilting pattern I came up with so I just packed it away - lets see......at least 5 years ago. So I got it out, pinned a sleeve on it and hung it up. Think anyone will notice?

This is a BOM I did that was originally published in McCall's Quilting magazine and is the one and only BOM kit I have bought. I hand pieced many of the blocks and all the applique is hand turned, so naturally I decided to hand quilt it.

Here is a close up of the quilting - I was trying to accomplish a "brick" pattern but it really is a nuisance to quilt. I took this picture at an angle hoping the pattern would show up better.

Now for the BIG question. Will you quilt it for me?????? Just kidding, I'll finish it one of these days. The real question involves the bottom right corner and this seems to happen on many of my quilts. The corner turns up, like the quilt is curving back on itself. I tried to get a picture of this and I hope you can see what I am talking about. I have wondered if I am pulling the binding too tight and that is what makes it curve. Yes, I did put the binding on this before I had it quilted, but I basted it really close and I did not want the raw edges getting more raw as I worked with it. Maybe when it is fully quilted, or the basting threads out, or I steam it like crazy, it will lay flat. But do you ladies know what I might be doing wrong?

This weekend I went on a trip to Ashville, NC to watch my daughter run her first half marathon - WAY TO GO ELLEN! The weather was fabulous, and she sure made me proud. I will close with a few pictures from the race. For those of you who are novices to Marathons like me, a half marathon is 13 miles and she ran it in 2 hours 35 minutes, or thereabouts. Now this run was up some very steep and long hills, as Ashville is in the mountains. I am so proud of her!

Before the race - and yes, we got there BEFORE the sun was up. We wanted to be on time, lol. The race began at 7:30am.

Here she is sprinting for the finish line. (I would be crawling by now - oh who am I kidding - I would still be sitting drinking water at the first water station!)

And here she is with her medal. Can you believe she is still smiling? She could even still talk when it was over.

Happy stitching,

Teresa

21432

Google Reader

2010-09-18T20:28:00.001-04:00

I am so disappointed that Bloglines is shutting down. I can't figure out google reader and how to get it to post only those blogs that have updates. I read a post, but yet it is still there and now I have close to 1000 items on my google reader.

Another problem...almost half of the blogs I like to read do not have the follower button that Google has to have. So what then, do I just not get to read those?

When I read a blog in the reader, I have to open that specific post to comment - and when I have tried to do that, I get an error message when I hit the comment button,

ARGHHHHHHHHHHHH - why can't they just leave things alone? Bloglines worked really well for me.

What service do y'all use to track the blogs you follow and read. There has to be a way to only see those that have updated since the last time you read them?

Faithfully stitching

2010-09-13T20:32:00.001-04:00

While at the beach and after getting home, I was faithfully stitching on a couple of small projects -

My Gifts of Grace Faithfulness Block. This one was fun to work on, except for one little problem - the heat and bond I use on the applique did not bond to my background fabric. It has worked just fine on all the other blocks - same fabric, same heat and bond. So I had to pin it in place until I could get it blanket stitched down.

Always fun to work on these Val Laird blocks and now I am all set for the September block to come out. (See side bar for a link to the free block of the month.

And speaking of Val Laird, I recently purchased another one of her patterns (can you tell I am a big fan) called Roses Roses Sewing Set. The pattern includes a needle case, carrying case, scissors case and pin cushion.

I made five sets of the scissors case and pin cushion to donate to my guild to sell in the boutique at our quilt show next month, These were fun to make and now I want to make one for myself - but the whole set! Want to see the entire set - check out: http://home.exetel.com.au/val_laird/index_files/Page605.htm

I recently found a new embroider hoop that I just love using. It is the Morgan Embroidery Hoop and it has an interlocking ridge in the middle of the ring that keeps the fabric from sliding out of the hoop. I purchased mine at a LQS (Q-Bee Quilts) and its just the best!

And now a word from me, the proud mama of Ellen. She is running a marathon in January to help raise funds for blood cancer research. She has a website set up if you would like to read her story of why she is doing this. http://pages.teamintraining.org/nc/wdw11/ejustice .

Please read her story. You don't have to pledge financial support - but please donate your prayer support as she trains for this marathon and seeks to meet her financial goal to help fight this deadly disease.

This is Ellen in the pink, with Cindy. Cindy is my niece and the lovely daughter of my brother Michael who Ellen writes about.

Happy Stitchin,
Teresa

Oak Island Sunset

2010-09-05T20:46:00.001-04:00

Tomorrow we go home.........sigh. Its been a wonderful holiday.

Teresa

Oak Island

2010-09-05T08:39:00.000-04:00

Oak Isand as seen from my porch.

My porch for the weekend, anyway. We are here for the Labor Day weekend and this is just what the doctor ordered for me. I am already stress free and relaxed and having a wonderful time.

Here is where I spent much of yesterday afternoon...cat napping and reading, while the hubby, Ellen and Izzy took real naps inside.

This is Izzy's first road trip with the family and she was a real trooper on the way down, although the traveling did get a little wearisome on the way.

We did a little antique shopping, including a stop at one of our favorite spots in Supply, NC. Its a shop in an old church and they are jammed packed full of the neatest items. I wish we had brought the truck and they had some ladder back chairs I would have loved to buy. All we could squeeze (and I do mean squeeze) into the van was a chest that Ellen bought to keep her tatting, knitting and sewing supplies in. (Remember the days when all the sewing supplies you owned would fit in a chest this size?)

I have done a little sewing, but mostly reading and looking at the waves. So I will leave you with a final picture from my porch. This was taken early this morning and if you look real close in the distance you can see two lighthouses.

Hope you are having a wonderful Labor Day,

Teresa

Anderson Area Quilt Show

2010-08-29T07:06:00.003-04:00

Saturday my husband and I drove down to Williamston, SC to visit the Anderson Area Quilt Show.

Fred went as my photographer and really showed an interest in the show - that is how the quilt racks were constructed and arranged. He made a purchase of a quilt hanger, which unfortunately I did not get a picture of, but hopefully will have it on display soon. Hubby is a talented woodworker and I see more of these quilt hangers in my future :)

Before I show you the pictures from the show, I have to tell that Fred has been in the hospital this past week with a heart attack scare that turned out to be a reaction to meds and low potassium. So when I say he went with me to the show, after getting out of the hospital on Friday, you see how very nice that was of him to do. While sitting in the hospital, I did manage to get some hand quilting done on my spools welcome wall hanging. I had forgotten how much I enjoy handquilting. I am good at it, but I do enjoy doing it, and that is what counts - just don't count my stitches per inch!

Cathi, of Shakerwood Primatives, was at the show and if you want to check out her wonderful hand-dyed wools visit Shakerwood Woolens.

I came home with a few myself, but te photograph does not do the softness of the colors justice.

I also came home with some fabrics from the other vendors and a pack of Roxanne Applique Needles. Have any of you tried those? I have not used them before, but have heard good things about them.

Notice all the blues in my fabrics selections? Ask me my favorite color, and I will say I like them all. Look at my stash, and you will see the majority is blue - hmmmm. Purple and Orange share a tub in my stash, where blue takes three overflowing tubs.

So here are some of my favorite quilts from the show. The show was a lot of fun and my congratulations to the quilt guilds putting it on for a job well done. There are some amazing hand quilters and appliquers in these guilds!

Thanks for stopping by,

Teresa
20809

Its been awhile...

2010-08-23T21:32:00.000-04:00

And I did not realize how long. Time sure flies when you are busy.

Saturday we celebrated by grandson, Timothy's, 4th birthday! He wanted a "Cars" birthday - so of course, that means a "Cars" cake.

There was sliding down the big water slide.....

Opening presents!

Keeping babysister Taralyn out of the goodie bags....

And a present from big sister Tess -two water guns, one for her and one for him.

It was a fun day!

I have done just a little sewing, working on a couple ETUI's from a pattern by Val Laird. I hesitate to show these as they are not nearly as pretty as her's are, but I tried really hard to get it right. I plan to donate these to our quild for sale at the York County Quilt show coming up in October.

They are not finished here, but show the progress. I did all hand embroidery, where Val Laird's pattern as some really cute applique. I added beads and buttons to fancy it up a little.

This is the outside.

And this is the inside - notice the pin cushion and pockets in each points.

And here they are upright. There is a bead that goes on the top, but my beads were too big, so for now I just have them pinned. You can see the pattern and even order it if you like here. She has some beautiful patterns to choose from, and also some really nice free patterns too.

Happy Stitching,
Teresa
20734

Gifts of Grace - Generosity

2010-08-11T21:44:00.000-04:00

Yea...I am caught up on this wonderful Block of the Month offered by Val Laird. This is block #6 - Generosity. There is a link on my side bar if you would like to do these blocks too! The come out the third week of each month and I can hardly wait to see the block for August.

And I thought I would share a couple more "barn quilt" pictures I took in Tennessee. These were actually on stores in the small historic town of Danridge. Unfortunately we got there about the time everything was closing down for the day, but I would love to go back and walk the streets of this lovely town.

Take care, and thanks for stopping by,

Teresa

20510

Gifts of Grace - Kindness

2010-08-05T21:21:00.001-04:00

Here is my block #5 from the Gifts of Grace free BOM by Val Laird (see button on side bar). I wish the beads would show up a little better on the picture as they really do finish off the block nicely.

As I worked on this block I thought of all the ways people have shown kindness to me. I want to be a kind person, but sometimes I don't act when I should and end up regretting that I did not do something for someone when I could have. I vow to do better, and then get caught up in life and don't get it done. I think doing kind acts for friends, family and even people you don't even know, is a true gift of grace and can only pray that I will do better at being kind in the future.

I was the receivor of a very nice kind act several weeks ago. I received in the mail a package from Cheryl Goss of Willowberry Designs . Cheryl shares of her talents and time by offering beautiful free BOM stitchery patterns and has given me advice many times. Recently she was published in theAustralian Homespun magazine, and when I made a comment of how I would love to see the article, she sent it to me, as well as the pattern from the article and some sweet quilt labels. What a wonderful surprise this was for me!

While in Tennessee a couple weeks ago, I saw my first ever Barn Quilt. This was located on Hwy 411, just up the road from the Bush Baked Beans Company, in Chestnut Hill, Tn. I love this block - anyone know what the name of it is?

I also wanted to share with you a treasure I found while cleaning out my mom's kitchen - biscuit cutters! I don't think my mom ever used these, but I intend to. The one on the left is purchased, probably on one of their trips - I am wondering if it might have come from the Amish area. The one on the right was made by my father.

Well, that's it for tonight. I hope you all have a wonderful day tomorrow.

Teresa

20370

Circus Stars - Connecting Blocks

2010-08-03T18:48:00.001-04:00

This is the third and final process post for the circus stars and is how I connect the blocks as well as the rows.

So here we have the two blocks. The object being to join the blocks so that the point is smooth and not jagged where the blocks meet. Easy? No.

First, you have to match up the points. Once again, I place a pin in the points of each block to line up where the stars will meet. Sometimes this hits at a 1/4" seam line, and sometimes I have to adjust - well, most times I have to adjust.

Then I place pins just to the right of the points. It is important to sew right across the cross-hairs where the seam cross.

Then you open it up and peek....hmmm, I kind of missed the mark this time. So out comes my Faithful Ripping Out Gadget (FROG) and I rippit, rippit, rippit.

And if at first you don't succeed - you try, try again. I like to press the seams open. Ahh, this is much better. And you continue along the row joining blocks, and then the same process to join rows together.

Much against my best resolutions to finish this quilt before starting another bed quilt project, I have started a Triple Irish Chain. I have always wanted to make one of these, and I will be teaching my Stitchin Friends group this process next week, so of course, I had to make up my blocks to get ready for the class. After all, you can't teach something you haven't done, right? So here is my mockup of my quilt - I am using the scraps from my Be Attitudes blocks. I did buy the outer yellow border fabric, but most of the rest is coming from my stash. I just love these fabrics. And, I was good...once I finished enough blocks to teach my class, I put the project away and picked my Circus Stars back up.

I have also been working on some hand quilting of another spools wall hanging and Block 5 of the Gifts of Grace.

So, I am not finishing anything...but I sure am having fun! What are you working on these days?

Thanks for stopping by,

Teresa

20297

Gifts of Grace - Love and Patience

2010-07-23T13:42:00.000-04:00

You know - those two words do need to always go together. Being patient with loved ones can be a challenge at times, but because we love them as much as we do, we have to practice patience. I think its very appropriate that I publish my two most recent finishes in the Gifts of Grace together - don't you? (One taken with a flash, the other without - hmmm, not sure which is better.

I was also going to show you the next step in the Circus Stars, but it seems those pictures have vanished from my computer. Guess that will have to wait for another day. My husband and I are skipping down for a few days - headed to the Tennessee mountains. I sure hope it is cooler there than here!

Thanks for stopping by,

Teresa

Happy Birthday, Momma

2010-07-21T08:42:00.000-04:00

Just wanted to say happy birthday to my mom. She never liked having her picture posted, so I won't do it here. Instead, I will show the first quilt she ever made, and it was a baby quilt for my brothers first and then passed down to me.

Mom would be 89 today, and I woke with the realization that this is her first birthday in my life that I can not share with her.

I miss you Mom.

Love you,
Teresa

K-Scope Block Construction - Lots of Pictures

2010-07-18T09:02:00.003-04:00

I received 11 nice comments on my last post - thank you ladies, and five of you expressed an interest seeing how these blocks go together. I was not sure if I was boring you all with the details, so I will continue on with my process of putting together these blocks. I know this post took awhile to load, but its full of pictures and no way can I explain this without lots of pictures!

First, I had to relieve my Keeper of the Project Box of her security duties so that I could get to the block pieces. She takes her responsibility very seriously, jumping on the box as soon as I close the lid and sometimes before I close the lid if I don't fuss at her in time.

Once into the box, I select my wedges according to the chart I showed in the prior post and lay them out on the design board. I would never attempt this quilt without a design board (a piece of foam board covered in flannel).

I have premarked the seam lines on each wedge. I did not do this at first, and I ended up with some wonky looking stars, so I went back and marked each piece and it sure makes sewing them together easier.

I begin by sewing wedges together in pairs...starting at the outer edge of the wedge and sewing to the point where the seam lines intersect.

At least that is my goal - you can see I missed the mark a little on this seam. Guess I should have done it over, but I did not notice it until I saw this picture, and my goof in living color!

The seam is pressed to one side, and I always press to the dark wedge. It is important that you press the same for each wedge. I have my iron right beside me when sewing and press each wedge as they are sewn together and return them to the design board to keep the colors straight. If you are doing scrappy, and this is not important, then you could sew all the wedges together in twosies, and then iron them at one time.

Now you sew the twosies together, lining up the seam down the middle. I don't pin these together before sewing, but you could if you like. I find the seams lock together nicely, and pinning is not needed.

Once again - sew the seam, stopping at the point where the seam lines intersect (should be 1/4 inch from inner point of wedge). Press the seams in the same direction as the "twosies" seams were pressed and now you have half the K-Scope together.

To sew the two halves together, you want to make sure all seams are matching up correctly. I have pinned the edge of the top half back so you can see the seams.

I also place a pin in the point of each half, where the wedges meet, to make sure that I am lining them up right. This is a crucial step to making sure your points all match in the center of the star - and it can be very aggravating when they don't!

Sew across the two halves, and press the seams in the same direction that the prior seams are facing, creating a nice swirl right in the middle. which is necessary for it to lay flat.

Now the easy part...sew the corner squares to the corner wedges to make your block square. You just have to remember which are the corners! I know this from experience. After all the corners are on, you are ready to square up your block. My blocks measure 6 1/2" unfinished. So there you have the finished blocks. Next week I will discuss sewing the blocks into rows, which is a trick in itself.

Hope you enjoyed and maybe even picked up a tip or two - its always fun to share!

Thanks for stopping by,

Teresa

19900

Circus Stars

2010-07-11T19:32:00.001-04:00

I recently took the pledge to show my "work in progress" rather than just showing finished projects. (See Rosie's blog and the button on my right margin) This is really not a problem with me, as I have many in process and would not be able to post weekly if I only showed the finished. I think the real intent is to show the steps or work being performed.

So as I pulled out my Circus Stars quilt, I thought I would show you a few of the steps involved in making this quilt. I have shown in it in the past, and I know some of you must be a little tired of looking at it, but I will try to be brief.

I have a color layout chart to keep track of where I am on the quilt. There are sixteen different colorations of stars. The block between each star block has to have one point of color of the blocks it touches, and this can be a real challenge keeping it straight as to what color comes next.

Using the layout chart, I layout two blocks at a time - comparing it to the chart and the quilt in progress on my design wall, to double check that I have the colors in the right place.

Here is a shot of a portion of the quilt on my design wall - for those who are seeing this for the first time. I just love working on this quilt and playing with all the colors. I do have to wonder though, where in the world will this quilt reside in my home????

Next week I will share the process of making the actual blocks. So stay tuned.

Finished up the second block - JOY - in the Gifts of Grace free block of the month being offered on Val Laird's blog. These blocks are so pretty and give me JOY to just be working on them Thank you Val for so generously sharing your talent with us.

Thanks for stopping by and come back soon!

Teresa
19747

Vacation Over....dagnabit

2010-07-04T19:28:00.000-04:00

Just when I was getting used to being at home all day with my husband, who is currently on short term disability, its time to go back to work. Sigh....

So what did I accomplish while off for one week?

Each morning was spent working on the china cabinet. Its almost done - just have to paint the inside of the glass doors, which is why you see the green and blue tape on the glass. This has been a real labor of love as my dad made this cabinet, I want to preserve it, but geez - I just hate painting. I must be the messiest painter in the world and ending up covered in paint from my hair to my toes. I went with my husband to the doctor this week, and had to laugh when I looked down at my feet at the doctors office. Had on croc slides, and sure enough, the tip of each toe had paint on it, in addition to the soles of my feet. Now I know I washed those feet!

On Friday, I took a break from painting and life in general, and headed to Columbia to visit my friend Darlene. We had a great time and made a trip to Michaels to get beads and floss for the Gifts of Grace project. (See the button on my sidebar.) This is the first block and I just love working with these. A combination of stitchery, applique and working with beads. The free BOM has already issued 5 blocks, so I have some catching up to do.

And last but not least, I got my klosjes sewn up for a second wall hanging. Hopefully I can sew the binding on straight on this one!

Yesterday all the family came over and we had a great gathering for July 4th (July 3rd - in our case), and it was a ton of fun. I hope you have all had a good week and thanks for stopping by,

Teresa

19584

Pictures of busyness....

2010-06-28T21:29:00.001-04:00

Its been a couple of weeks since I last posted and time has just gotten totally away from me. I first started to title the post "Pictures of business" thinking that adding "ness" to "busy" you would drop the y and add an i. And what do you know...that spells business. Just something I thought you might find interesting.

Anyway, I am going to just show a few pictures of what I have been doing. Hope you enjoy...

This week started out with Vacation Bible School at my church. My daughter was the director this year, and she asked me to keep the nursery - which turned out to be just my sweet lil angel, Taralyn. So each night, I got to bond with my granddaughter - how special is that!

We left town on Friday for a family reunion in West Virginia. The weather was beautiful the whole trip, as was wild and wonderful West Virginia. Here is a view from one of the bridges we crossed over.

I did manage a little sewing on the trip, finishing up some klosjes. I am still working on the pattern for this project.

On getting back home, rested up a bit and dove right into a project at home - refinishing the china cabinet my dad made. Started out early by taking the cabinet apart, sanding and sanding the varnish off each inch of the cabinet and finally cleaning up the room - which meant vacuuming up all the sawdust, wiping down the china cabinet and the walls and the windows and ME for that matter. Here it is all cleaned up and ready to paint - tomorrow.

So, that is what I have been up to. Tomorrow, who knows, I may have a WHITE china cabinet to show. My "As the Needle Turns" applique club is coming over tomorrow for a klosje lesson using English Paper Piecing. I know, that is not applique, but we diversify!

Thanks for stopping by,

Teresa
19436

Pattern Writing with EQ and Word

2010-06-14T22:57:00.001-04:00

I enjoy designing my own quilts in EQ and then once I make the quilt, I like to write the pattern to share with others that might want to make it too. I have always been so frustrated trying to get a pattern that looks professionally done, or at least "neat" drawings. I have tried taking pictures of the process and using those in my pattern, but I am not that great a photographer.

So I posed the question to EQ, and got the best response from Penny McMorris of EQ - and I will say a very prompt response at that. She explained how to create a metafile of the block in EQ and download this to WORD. Once in WORD you can do all kinds of neat things with the block. I still have a lot to learn, but I though I would show you a before and after of what I have learned.

(If you would like a copy of the question I posed to EQ and the answer I got, just let me know and I will forward the email to you.)

I am writing a pattern for my Klosje wall hanging that you can see on my post before this one. I wanted to be able to print multiple copies of the paper foundation pieces on one page, to run off on card stock. The only solution I came up with was to print copies from EQ, cut out the patterns and tape them on a piece of paper and then make copies of that. The problem being, first - you can't include that in an electronic pattern write-up as scanning distorts the size, second - I could not add the text I wanted to in EQ and third - it just looks kind of tacky.

So following Penny's instructions, I created the metafile, copied it to WORD, separated the parts of the block and then arranged them on the page. I added text boxes to label the pieces. Woohoo..this is just what I wanted. Here you see the before (left) and after (right). [I didn't really need to tell you which was the before and which was the after, did I?]

This is just so neat and I am excited about writing the pattern now. If only I could sew the klosje and write the pattern at the same time - I just love making these cute little blocks.

Monday Mystery - I finished my Owl block. One more to go and the final explanation of what we are making. I am looking forward to that. I think I will outline my petals and center in a purple.

Thanks for dropping by.
Teresa
19129

Flittering

2010-06-08T23:41:00.000-04:00

There is so much talk now about tweeting, and writing on walls, and Lord only knows what else, I thought I would just come up with my own word...Flittering.

Definition: Flitter - to flit from one project to another, completing nothing, but making progress on each.

And that is just what I have been doing this week, flitting from one project to another, and enjoying every flit along the way.

So knowing how curious us quilters are, here is what I have been flittering my time away doing:

Prepped the "Be Joyful" block in my Be Attitudes series.

This is the last one in the series of 12 blocks and will probably be my favorite since I have this "thing" for Santa. I have been collecting them for years, with treasures like a lego Santa my children made to an antique felt Santa that my Mom gave me, which really started the collection.

Next on my flittering path is the Monday Mystery. I finished the fourth block, and am anxious to start the next, which is owls! Wooooooooohoo, that should be fun.

Then I just had a hankering to do a little more stitching, so I got out my Nice People Nice Things project and finished up two more blocks with their sayings. These little blocks are so much fun and someday I will finish them all and make a quilt - but no hurry, cause once they are done, they're done and I will miss working on them.

And of course, I flitted right along to the klosje project. Now this is where I kind of fall off the flitting path as I completed a project - my wall hanging.

Here is is hanging in my kitchen. I added a few more flowers since you last saw it. These are tons of fun to make and I will be teaching this to my club on Saturday. Hope they like them as much as I do.

As a matter of fact, I got so addicted to them, that I started cutting out more - I intend to make a queen size quilt. Now this will take 90 of the blocks with circles and 360 of the squares ones.

This is what I got cut out - 39 of the circle blocks and 56 of the squares. See how neat my 30's tub looks after cutting out my blocks and neatly folding all the fabrics back up.

Now you may be thinking - there is not enough fabric in there to make an entire quilt, and you are right - but have no fear, I have an whole wall of tubs full of FQ and short cuts of fabric. I know they do not look so neat, but I will go through and cut out blocks and fold up the remaining fabrics all nice and neat and before you know it, all my stash tubs will look just like the tub of 30's. Yea, I can dream can't I?

OK...so I have shown you my flittering fun, and my messy stash and that is about all I have to report on this week. Hope you have all been having as much fun as I have.

Happy stitchin'

Teresa18968

Shakerwood Quilts

2010-06-05T11:07:00.001-04:00

Check out Cathi's new blog and fantastic give away: http://shakerwoodquilts.blogspot.com/

Cathi is a talented designer, quilter and has the most beautiful hand dyed wools!

Accuquilt-Go give-away.

2010-06-03T10:25:00.002-04:00

A great give-away of an Accuquilt-Go. Be sure to say I sent you!

Check out Bejeweled Quilter

Are you in a guild?

2010-05-31T22:32:00.000-04:00

Are you a member of a local quilt guild? Do you pay dues and attend monthly meetings? Do you make friends and share talents, joys, sorrows, concerns, friendships?

I am a member of my local guild and enjoy the monthly meetings and the speakers and friendships. But you know, I am also member of an international guild, one with no dues, unlimited membership and chock full of talents and wonderful people, meets daily all day long - this is the guild of bloggers. An amazing group of guilters that share so freely of their time, talent and lives. I just want to say thank you to all the wonderful people that read my blog and the bloggers that share with me and have taught me new techniques and inspired me to try new things.

I have worked really hard this weekend to have my Klosje wall hanging near finished so that I could show you what I am doing. You know, I would never have discovered these fun blocks if it were not for blogging and I am having the best time making them. This is where my wall hanging is now - pretty much ready for quilting. The yoyo flowers are just pinned on as is the binding on one side to show the color. The Welcome is done in Faux Applique - another technique I found through blogging. I am still debating on whether to handquilt or machine quilt. One thing for sure, I now plan to make a full size quilt in this pattern - these little blocks are fun to make!

I also finished up the Chicks block on the Monday Mystery. I think this is the cutest one so far.

Is anyone else out there playing along on this project?

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. My husband was out of town, and my good friend, Darlene,came up to keep me company on Friday - Saturday. Cheryl joined us on Friday for a trip to Mary Jo's and of course we did some shopping as well as lunch at Olive Garden. Darlene left on Saturday and I spent the remainder of Saturday and Sunday just hanging out at the house, except for a couple visits with my Dad, and enjoying some quiet time with my sewing and reading.

Thanks for stopping by,

Teresa

18681

Klosje fun

2010-05-23T23:46:00.001-04:00

This week I have been working on my klosje project, and have really worked at figuring out the best way to make these blocks. Mine were getting that wonky look, and that is not something I wanted. So I reprinted patterns, made at least 10 attempts and I think I finally have it working for me. Here is what I have completed so far: (these are just on my design wall)

Two things I figured out:

1 - In making the 3 1/2" squares, I cut a little extra on the outside edge to allow for squaring up the block.

2 - In making the klosje in a circle, I machine sew two strips together and then cut out the piece that has the spool and background fabric on it. Before this, my circles looked more like saw blades!

Once I came up with those two steps, the rest all went together great and I have had so much fun working on these. I need to make 14 more of the 3 1/2" square and I will be ready to sew the blocks together.

I also worked on the Monday Mystery Stitchery project (http://beetreedesigns.blogspot.com/ ) and here is my version of the second design in the series. Each section is a flower petal and I am not sure what this will become. I decided to do each petal in a differnet color, and not sure yet what I am going to outline them in - but leaning towards red. Hmmm...can you tell I like to use lots of colors?

Hope you have all had a good weekend. Tomorrow, hubby and I will be celebrating our 36th wedding anniversary. Nothing major planned, as we have had a busy weekend and will probably just go out to eat.

Thanks for stopping by,

Teresa

18509

And the winner is..........

2010-05-23T23:26:00.000-04:00

Judy of kjquilts (The Quiet Quilter) !!!!
Congratulations Judy, and I will be watching your blog to see a Cathedral Window in the making.

As I wrote down the names of all you lovely ladies that entered my drawing, I so wanted to give each and every one of you a kit, but that is just not practical at this point. Many of you are followers and your comments always encourage me so much. Thank you for stopping by, leaving comments and I hope you will continue to share in my quilting life.

Teresa
18509

Giveaway !

2010-05-17T10:12:00.000-04:00

Heyyyyyyyyyyy - I am having a giveaway - see my prior post. I have had over 48 hits to that post and only 3 left comments. Is the Cathedral Window scaring you off? Its ok if only three are interested, but just wanted to make sure you all read down that far in the post in case you would like to win the kit. I did have a link to a great blog and maybe you all just skipped on over there and did not finish reading my post. My pattern is called You Can Do It Cathedral Window and I think you will find with my technique, you will be successful in making a great CW sample and maybe venturing forth to make a full size quilt. :)

Teresa
18321

A little fun makes for big stress relief.

2010-05-15T23:10:00.004-04:00

These last few weeks have been very hectic in my world - mostly self enduced stress, but stress none the less. Today I taught a Cathedral Window quilt class and had so much fun working with a group of great ladies. Came home, and my children and husband had worked hard redoing my flower beds, not quite finished, but I will have a picture to share soon. Then tonight, I started to pick up a project that I commited to, and thought - what the heck - I am going to just work on something for the fun of it.

I found this the perfect project on a wonderful blog http://beetreedesigns.blogspot.com/ called Monday Mystery and tonight, I just kicked back and relaxed and did this. Not because it was a commitment that I had to get done, not because it was a project that I needed to finish, not because I "had" to, just because I wanted to, and it was fun. So, if you would like to join in the fun, just hop on over to Cyndi's site and go for it. She has only published the first stitchery so you are not that far behind. (While there, sign up for her great giveaway too!) I don't know what it is going to be, it is a mystery after all, but then, the end product is not important - its the fun getting there.

I wanted to have a giveaway too. So if you would like to win one of my "You Can Do It" Cathedral Window patterns and kits, just leave me a comment here. I will draw a name on Sunday, May 23 - in celebration of my birthday (21st) and my anniversary (24th). So come on...help me celebrate..leave a comment! And if by chance you already have a kit, I have a back up gift for you, but that is a mystery.

The kit is a sample kit to make a 16" square - just to learn the technique.

Thanks for stopping by,
Teresa
18274

Happy Birthday to me!

2010-05-11T00:08:00.000-04:00

Its a little early, but hubby got me a this tonight for my birthday (May 21)!

I have been admiring this machine for several years now, and am thrilled to finally own one. I think I need a day off from work tomorrow!

Teresa

18090

A lesson learned.....

2010-05-09T22:48:00.001-04:00

Have you ever used this product? My quilt club was at my house on Saturday and we were working on the project for my daughter's class. We are sewing together quilt blocks colored by the chidren as well as some picture blocks. The picture blocks, we printed on this product.

It was an absolute nightmare trying to get the paper off the back of the fabric. We read and re-read the instruction, and all the directions say is to slowly peel the paper off the fabric. We peeled and peeled and peeled - slow, slower, slower than a lazy snail slow. So, we just decide to get off what we could and leave the remainder on. As I was ironing the blocks, guess what!!! The paper almost slides off when you heat it up. All we had to do was iron the paper, and then lift it right off. Who knew????? I wonder if Printed Treasures knows this? They sure don't tell you in the instructions.

BTW - other than the paper peeling nightmare, the product printed great!

I did manage to finish one of my Be Attitude blocks this week. This is the 11th block, Be Grateful and I have one more to do - Be Joyful. Whoopeeeee, will I be joyful when I finish that one.

Hope you all have had a great Mother's Day. Mine was very nice - but I miss my Mom. This was my first Mother's Day without her being right here to hug and talk with. Love you Mom, and miss you very much.

Happy Stitchin,
Teresa
18056

Klosje - Wall Hanging

2010-05-05T06:47:00.005-04:00

This is what I came up with so far on my quilt design. This is an EQ drawing, and the klosje is 3" square. The background is unbleached muslin. I may add a wider border to it, and I am debating on sashing. The border I am showing is to represent the binding and is only 1/2". This top is 19" square.

So, what do you think?

For great tutorials on how to do the klosje with the curved sides, check out Rose Marie's blog Applique n' Patch Quilting:
Making the templates: http://appliqueandpatches.blogspot.com/2010/04/klosjes-templates.html

Doing the Paper Piecing: http://appliqueandpatches.blogspot.com/2010/03/klosjes.html

Thank you for your thoughts,
Teresa
17982

Klosjes - my attempt

2010-05-04T22:02:00.002-04:00

I have lost sleep over these cute little blocks. Stay up late working on it, get up early, and I think I finally got it. I have redesigned my blocks too many times to count in EQ6 and tried various size blocks. I like the circle setting (see http://appliqueandpatches.blogspot.com/2010/05/klosjes-saturday.html for where this idea came from - she has a great tutorial on how to make your pattern), and that has added an additional challenge, but here are the two I finished. The one on the right with the blue background is my first one. It was totally off center, and fortunately I had cut the background big enough that I kind of centered the back around the block. The circle is a 6" circle ( somewhat) and the klosje is 5 inches. On the block on the left side, I set the circle to be 5" and the klosje is 3". I also enlarged the center square to make it look a little more like a spool. Both blocks measure 6 1/2" unfinished. So which do you like the best?

Here are some of my mom's blue bird dishes. They now reside on my dining room wall and make me happy everytime I see them...they are blue birds, afterall, and my mom loved them, and I loved my mom. I miss her so much.

Thanks for stopping by,

Teresa

17973

Sunday Post on Wednesday

2010-04-28T08:44:00.001-04:00

Well its Wednesday, and I am just now getting around to posting my Sunday post - yea, we all have weeks like that. This weekend was spent attending some programs at the University, visiting with my Dad and hours and hours of washing, ironing, and cutting fabric. My club, bless them all, have agreed to help my daughter with a project with her 3rd grade class. Each child (20 in all) is going to color pictures onto fabric around a theme, then my club will assemble the quilts for tying. On May 25, we will join the students and their parents in class to teach them how to tie the quilt, have a quilt show and watch the kids act out skits on the theme they studied - all about being smart in their daily lives, not taking chances, that sort of thing. So this weekend, I cut out 20 backings, 196 white blocks with freezer paper backing for coloring (needed 160 but thought a few extra might be a good idea), and 20 sets of sashing. Its a good thing I enjoy cutting fabric! I really am proud of my daughter as she wrote a grant to do this project and also did a presentation at her PTA to get their support. I think it is going to be a lot of fun, now that all the fabric is cut and ready to go.

My other project, which I finished this morning, was to write a pattern for my Heart and Home wall hanging. I still have to test it out with my club, bless them double, but the pattern is done!

My husband, being the kind hearted hungry man he is, furnished supper Sunday night.

Now...on to the next project. I am home this morning, psyching myself up for my annual checkup at the doctors office later this morning. (Good thing I got that hamburger on Sunday, will be mylast one for awile.) I won't show you a picture of the look on my face as I type that one! I think I will get cleaned up and go to Hancocks before the doctor's office...try to get my blood pressure back to normal.

Hope you all have a wonderful Sunday...er, Wednesday.

Teresa
17854

Sunday in the Park

2010-04-18T21:11:00.002-04:00

It seems like a long time since I last posted and I guess it has been over a week. I have been busily working around the house, working in the yard, working at work, which leaves very little time for playing in my sewing room, sitting in the swing reading and blogging. I did finish the book "The Last Song" - great book!

Sewing has been on my Be Attitudes block, which I will not show again for the hundreth time, and I started putting together a pattern for my Heart and Home wall hanging. My quilt club is going to test the pattern for me. This week I designed a paperpieced heart to go in the top left corner. This turned out pretty good and is a little easier to make than the heart with 169 pieces that I taught my club.

Yesterday was a beautiful day, and we started it out by watching my daughter Ellen, and neices Cindy and Joy run a 5K. Here they are cheesing it for the camera (Joy - Ellen - Cindy, left to right). They are striking a pose like my mom and her sisters always did in photos.

I am so very proud of each of them for this accomplishment. This is Ellen's third 5K and she ran it in 29min1sec! Cindy's second run and Joy's first.

And then another beautiful day today. We took my Dad to Glencairn Gardens here in town to see the fabulous flowers, fountains and just enjoy being outside. Here are few pictures from the morning - it was a great day. God is good and blesses me over and over again.

Wishing you a wonderful week!

Teresa

17681

The good news is...

2010-04-07T10:32:00.003-04:00

We finally got a new door for the basement entrance, which my daughter is thrilled about since she lives down there. The bad news is my husband scheduled it for installation this morning, and he can not be here - so I have to be here to deal with the installers.

The good news is, that means I have to stay home this morning from work (yipppeeee) and this gave me time to work on my screen - the bad news is Lowes did not put all the necessary parts in the box for the dead bolt, so I have to be here longer than expected while they bring them out from the store -

Then good news is....I have to be here longer than expected :)

I finished the screen panels and here they are. The panels are held in with painters tape right now, as hubby and I need to decide the best way to put them in. I am thinking now that I want them to be easily removed as I see all kinds of possibilites. I covered foam board with fabric to make the panels - and wouldn't Christmas fabric be nice for the holidays, or quilt blocks for a meeting of my bee? I could change them with the seasons! I put my chair there so you can see how the screen fabric goes with the fabric I recovered the chairs in. So what do you think?

My next big home decor project will be to paint the book shelf in the living room, and they are supposed to bring the huge china cabinet up to the house this weekend and that will have to be painted as well.

I did a little stitchery on a Nice People Nice Things block this week. Dagnabit - I traced the wording block on the side of the fabric that has the fusible interfacing. Now how in the world did I not notice that???

Hope you have a great day!

Teresa

17323

Happy Easter!

2010-04-03T20:32:00.002-04:00

May your hearts be filled with joy and praise,

and

May your day be filled with fun and family

and

All your Easter eggs be filled with chocolate!

Happy Easter!

Teresa
17250