Anderson Area Quilt Show

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
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Its been awhile...

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
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Gifts of Grace - Generosity

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

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Gifts of Grace - Kindness

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

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Circus Stars - Connecting Blocks

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

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Gifts of Grace - Love and Patience

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

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

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

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