Happy Birthday, Ellen!

I have to hurry and get this posted before midnight, as today is my beautiful daughter Ellen's birthday. Isn't she cute! She will not be happy with this picture, but it was taken on her 21st birthday and I think it is so cute.

Happy Birthday, Ellen, I love you!











What have I been doing? Working mostly and some play. I have been putting together a pizza box round robin that starts at then end of this month. Here is my center block. I am doing this with some friends at work (Carol, Cheryl, Katie and Katie)


I have also been working on the Noah's Ark BOM - just two more blocks to do. How are you all coming Cathi, Cheryl and Carol???? (Hmmm...these pictures are not exactly in the same scale.)

And I recieved this oh so cute prize in the mail from Cherri over at Cherry House Quilts . Thank you very much !

If you notice on my right side bar, I have added a list of blog reading schedule. I find that I just can't keep up with my blog reading, so I have put myself on a schedule. This will be about 18 to 20 blogs a day (if everyone posts every week - highly unlikely), which is manageable and will keep me in touch with everyone at least once a week. Sundays will be my post day, and hopefully posting once a week will keep you all interested and coming a back to say hi.

Happy Stitchin!

Teresa

Thank You, Cheryl!

I received a very nice pattern in the mail today from Cheryl Goss of Willowberry Designs. I won it on her blog and she very promptly sent it on its way to my house. Its a lovely pattern entitled "Coming Home" and I think it will look great with the "Veranda Views" block of the month series that she has been posting on her blog. Check her out and see the very beautiful designs of this talented artist who so freely shares her gift with the blogging community.

Thank you, Cheryl, I just love the pattern!

Paper Clip Museum

We are back in town and had a great trip. I have the rest of the week off to just hang out at the house and relax - other than therapy on my arm, that is. Tonight we are going out to eat and then to see Julie and Julia.

I mentioned the Paper Clip Museum in a previous post and thought I would explain the story behind this museum. I read on someone's blog about the documentary Paper Clip and got it from Netflicks. A middle school in Whitwell, Tn, as a lesson about diversity, decided to study the Holocaust. They researched and decided to collect one paper clip for each person that died during this time and started contacting people about sending them paper clips. They were on National TV talk shows and also had three survivors come and talk to them about what happened. They received hundreds of thousands of paper clips. The biggest question became what to do with all the paperclips. The survivors contacted someone in Germany and found an actual rail car than had been used to transport the Jewish people to the death camps. The rail car was shipped to Whitwell, and turned into a museum. The school children give the tours of the museum and the history behind it.

After seeing the documentary, my husband and I wanted to see the museum, and decided if we are ever in that area, we would check it out. The town is only 16 miles from Chattanooga, so we decided to go. Sixteen miles makes a big difference in the Appalachian Mountains and it was truely like we had gone hundreds of miles. We were pleased to see this small mountain town was having a Labor Day Parade and we watched right along with every one else. Very "small town America" and a great way to spend Labor Day. Then we went to the museum, which unfortunately was closed, so we could not go in the rail car, but were able to see inside. Surrounding the rail car are mosaics of butterflies. I forget what the significance of the butterflies were.

While in Chattanooga, I did check out the Lavender Lime Quilting quilt shop, which is in the Fall/Winter 2009 Quilt Sampler Magazine. Its a rather small shop, but very friendly owners and big on inspiration.

I have tons of pictures from the trip, but will not bore you with them all. All in all, it was a very relaxing time and great to just get away for a little while.

Happy Stitchin' - Teresa

Helens, Ga...a bust!

We got to Helens, Ga and knew right away, not our kind of place. Very commercialized, crowded, noisy, overpriced hotels, etc. We didn't even bother to get out and walk around..just nothing of interest. Headed on up the road through the mountains to Hiawassee and there I found a great quilt shop: Log Cabin Patchworks. I picked up the new Quilt Sampler magazine and some wool and a few other goodies and we got back on the road to Blairsville where we stayed the night. Now this is our kind of town. They are having an outdoor craft show today, and the historic courthouse is open to the public, where there is a doll house exhibit. On the outskirts of down there is a minature train exhibit that we hope to go and see too....all local folks arts/exhibits. We will be heading on up to Chattanooga tonight, so more on that later.
We also have stopped at a few "antique" shops along the way and picked up a few special treasures but they are in the car and I did not get pictures. Sure has been fun so far!

Granny's got new wheels!

And I am ready to ride.

Got my new-to-me Ford Edge today and Hubby and I will be taking her on the road Friday morning. We are headed for Helens Ga, and then up to Chattanooga, Tn for an evening dinner cruise and a trip to the Paper Clip Museum and then head on home through Ashville,NC. We'll be gone for 5 days and I have already mapped out the quilt shops around Helens, Ga - the rest we will just see when we get there.

Did I do that????? Surely not!

Can some one explain this to me? I designed the quilt in EQ6, which seemed to take forever as I kept changing the border layout. Once done, I was pleased - but then after putting some blocks together, I even changed this layout that I had labored so long on.

I was thrilled to find the perfect fabric and set about cutting it into tiny triangles - all 2,248 of them plus a extra "just in case". Each quare was meticulously trimmed to make sure it was the proper shape and seam lines drawn (this step was after I made a few stars and realized my cutting was not quite as precise as it should be and that I do not sew a true 1/4 inch seam.) Then organized into trays so that I could keep the colors straight.

I cut small 1/2 inch squares of each color and made a color layout that I constantly refer to to make sure I am getting all the pieces in the right order, laying them out on my flannel board before I start sewing them together. I check off those I have completed so I don't lose my place.

The evolving quit top resides on my design wall so that I can also check the block against the ones that will be above it - once again, just checking to make sure I am getting all the points in the right place. Each completed row is added to the design wall and checked before sewing it to the top.

So would someone please tell me how this happened?????

Its the fifth block from the left in the picture above. I put the completed row up before sewing it on and &*^%$@)(*^&^ there it was in all its glory. The teal star is right, it's that blue point that is wrong. Now do you have any idea how hard this is going to be to remove and sew the correct color in? I thought maybe I would just leave it there for my "humility" block, but this quilt has quite a bit of humility already.

So today will be a rip roaring day as I rip out the wrong point and my mind roars at me for being so careless. I plan on working on this quilt at retreat in October. I wonder if that is a good idea. All that fun and chatter - who knows, I will be lucky to have any of the star points in the right spaces!

Happy Sunday!

Faux Applique......Fun, fun, fun!

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaack! Boy do I have some reading to catch up on all the blogs. I could read before, I just could not leave a post. And what is the fun of reading if I can't say something?

It took two trips to the computer doctor and almost 3 weeks in the shop - but my pc seems to be on the mend now. I sure did miss this extension of myself, which is what it sometimes feels like.

So what have I been doing? I discovered Faux Applique by Helen Stubbings. This is so much fun. I have mine colored and sealed and stitched, but not yet completed and quilted . I am thinking of adding some pinwheel blocks to the bottom and then quilting it to make a cute wall hanging over the fuse box in my kitchen.

This technique involves coloring on the fabric with colored pencils, sealing it and then stitching around the edges. Of course there is a lot more to it than that, but you get the idea.

While I was playing with the technique, I did a test to see if the colors would fade when they were washed. I was also experimentting with different sealers and types of pencils. I have had trouble with crayon coloring technique fading when I washed it. With this technique, there was absolutely no fading what so ever! The top of the chart is just the color, not sealed and not washed. The colors on the bottom are sealed and washed in HOT water.

Virus are just downright MEAN!

My computer is in the shop and I am on a borrowed one, so I can't download any pictures. I have a project I want to show you - my first Faux Applique block from Helen Stubbings book.

Just a word of warning - if you get a popup that says it can not open a page you are trying to view because your Internet Exployer is out of date, DON'T FOLLOW THE LINK TO UPDATE IT! That is just what I did, looked legit to me, and it has about destroyed my computer. Doggoneit - I hope they catch the ones creating these viruses and lock them all away for a long time.

Sheep Seasons

Remember these?

I started on this project before I broke my elbow, and my very thoughtful friend Cathi (Shakerwood Primitives) offered to finish them up for me. You see, these are part of a project Cathi was going to teach at our club meeting today, and well, in their current state, they were just a tad of a dissappointment.




So here is the finished project:

The sheep comes from a pattern called Sheep Seasons by Sue Allemand. The pattern comes with 4 different quilt designs and I chose to do the Fall one. Cathi did a great job teaching the blanket stitch applique stitch on wool.

We had a great day and quite a lovely flock was all quilted by the end of the meeting.

How was your Saturday?
Teresa

Last Friendship Block....

....but not the last of our friendship fun. We swapped our final blocks today at lunch over a little "soul food" a great new resturant. We immediately began plotting what we would start doing now in our little mini lunch group, besides eat that is. We didn't come up with an idea yet...any suggestions?

So here are our blocks.

First up is Carol's block - a signature block with a sweet saying. I have enjoyed getting to know Carol over the past year or so. She always encourages me to try to things and shares my enthusiasm for new techniques and projects. Thanks Carol for all the blocks and for your friendship!

Next, we have Cheryl's Signature block - a little wonky, just like Cheryl! I love to joke around with Cheryl. We have worked together for years, but who's counting. She has a great heart, wonderful sense of humor and cares deeply for her friends. I am blessed to have her for a friend.

And then my block, which is the Nice People Nice Things "Friends" block. I gave Carol and Cheryl a signature block earlier in the year, and don't have a picture of it, but I thought this block so appropriate for our quilt.

This project was a lot of fun and thank you Thimbleanna for the idea. Gather up 3 or 4 of your own friends and have a swap each month. Some months it was hard to decide what block to do, but it was so much fun making blocks for my friends and receiving their special blocks. Now to get the quilt made!

Mushrooms

Now this post has nothing to do about quilting, unless you are looking to nature for inspiration. I often go to my mom's house (she lives right behind my house) on Saturday and Sunday mornings to share a cup of coffee and chat, and today I walked up to her paper box to get the Sunday paper, and WOW - there were RED mushrooms and ORANGE mushrooms all around that area. It had rained a lot last night and was still drizzling this morning, and these must have popped out this morning. So after coffee, I hurried home, woke my daughter (she loves me so much) and we both grabbed our cameras and went on a mushroom hunt in the drizzling rain and her in pj's (now's there's a picture I can't show you). Here are some of the pictures I took of the variety we have in our yard.

Isn't nature amazing!

A little stitchin..a little reading...

First I want to thank you all for your good wishes, thoughts, encouragement and prayers. My husband and I are both recovering very nicely and have much to be thankful for. It appears that his finger is healing and that he will be able to keep it intact. His pain is minimal and we are so thankful for that. I can use my arm now except no lifting for three weeks. I had hoped to be able to sew the binding on my quilt, but that can wait until I can actually lift the quilt with my left hand.

After a day of no sewing, not much of anything, I could not stand it any longer. So I rigged up a pillow to support my arm and found if I sat just right I could hold an embroidery hoop with little pressure on my left arm and do some stitching, as well as trace some patterns. This is a great thing! So over the last week and a half, I traced all the patterns for the Lynette Anderson's Noah's Ark Block of the Month project. I know, most of you have this one done, but hey, sometimes you have to fracture an elbow to get caught up! For those of you that don't know about this project, its a free stitchery project to make a mini quilt. I had one block finished and completed the stitichery on four others.
I also completed the "Chocolate" block and saying in the Nice People Nice Things Stitchery project, designed by Helen Stubbins.
And to round out my "leisure" time, I did some reading, completing the first two books in the Shenadoah Album Novel series by Emilie Richards - Wedding Ring and Endless Chain. I have enjoyed these books, and had my daughter drive me to Books-a-Million after a doctor's visit to purchase the next book in the series, Lover's Knot, and ended up getting the next three.

So, under the watch care of Nurse Kitty Felicia who would not leave my side, I guess you could say I made good use of my time, as well as good use of pain killer medicine! But alas, with recovery, comes going back to work and the end of my leisure time. But it is the weekend, and I can't lift anything, soooooooooooo..that means no housework, right?

Happy Stitchin!

Teresa

Thank You, Jackie!!!

I stayed home today, nursing my sick elbow, and received a wonderful "pick-me-up"! I had won a free quilting on Jackie's blog (Canton Village Quilt Works) a few weeks ago and excitedly boxed up my redwork and sent it her way. I received it back today and she did a beautiful job. I am showing the quilting here and when I get the binding on I will show the quilt. She used the quilting pattern Classy Curls to go along with my sashing fabric and it is just perfect!! Thank You, Jackie!!!

I have managed a little stitchery, but that is about all I can handle right now. Thank you for all your kind words, happy thoughts and prayers.

The good news is....

Fred got agood report from the doctor today and looks like his finger is going to be saved. Thank you for your prayers.

The bad news is...I fell when leaving work and fractured my elbow. I made it to pickup hubby to take him to the doc. Fred was given the ok to drive, so when we finished his appointment, he drove me to urgent care. I now have my left arm in a splint and sling - can't drive..can't sew :(.

My daughter says she is going to wrap us in bubblewrap before we leave the house again.

Mystery Project - Step 2

Today I did get a little sewing done - completed Step 2 of my project. Making great progress - lovely, isn't it?

A reminder of STEP 1, and here is Step 2.

Thank you all for you prayers for my husband. He is doing pretty good, pain under control with meds. Hopefully tomorrow we will find out that the finger is healing and will be saved.