The Field Trip Phase is Over

Well, Marcie seems to have gone back to her beachfront home in Virginia, so I must quit visiting quilt shops and get back to work. While showing Marcie my quilts and UFOs, this UFO surfaced (among a hundred others), so I snatched it up and finished the appliqué (naturally it was the appliqué that was undone):

This is called Tulip Farm. Am hoping to sandwich and quilt it later today after I work on my website for awhile.

Next I had to face the fact that I have fallen too far behind in making Circuit Rider blocks. I'm trying to sew along with Dottie at Little Quilts this year to make twelve of them. So I got this guy done, making three total:

and started to prepare this one. Go, Karen, go:

Four of the fabrics in this one are from the field trip.

I assembled this portable table last night, thinking that it might help me do appliqué from the comfort of my bed. It definitely helps and I've gotten a bit more done on the snowflake for Under the Mistletoe:

Two more Stickles.

The Windham Williamsburg Sampler fabric just arrived at Little Quilts yesterday, so I made this block last night to make sure I got that cute little sampler urn into my Dear Jane quilt:

Rembrandt says "hi".

Visiting

Marcie Patch came to town and off we went to visit quilt shops in the southeastern part of Atlanta. There was no bloodshed at all and we did just fine getting to know one another (well we already did know one another from, as Marcie puts it, excessive emailing :-) ).

Marcie even gave me this incredible gift! Is this not the dearest coin quilt ever? It has the darker Harvest Home newsprint fabric in the border; my bedroom curtains are the lighter shade, so this will find a home in that room:

I had never been to the quilt shops we went to. They've been open for years! This tells you something about how seldom I get out. A Scarlet Thread was a lovely, large shop. The owner, Karen, was so friendly (most Karens are simply lovely people :-) ); in fact, every person in there was so pleasant to talk with. I found a dandy little assortment of fabrics there:

How I kept resisting the Christmas fabrics in both shops I will never know, except that I just started that wonderful Under the Mistletoe quilt. Boy, they had the cutest Christmas fabric lines.

On we went to Sweet Home Quilt Co., which I have been intending to get to ever since it opened. People always say what a wonderful shop it is, and how friendly the owner, Melisa, is, and they are right! Well, it took Marcie's visit to get me into gear. Dear old vintage quilts on the porch (and there are other collectibles displayed inside):

Look where we parked at Sweet Home: out in the woods! By a rustic shed! Sweet Home is housed in a historic home in Conyers. It is even on the Historic Register :-) .

It even has historic steps, which reminded me of my intown 1920 shotgun cottage (also with historic steps) that I bought when I first came to Atlanta. Marcie and I had to take pictures of our Sweet Home fabric finds on them:

Marcie and I had a very nice time visiting; she is also visiting her Atlanta-based daughter. I am happy to report that she will be coming back to Atlanta in September to stay with me and to see the East Cobb Quilt Guild Show. This is a very good show that is put on only every other year, so consider attending if you can. See you then, Marcie!

Stickle Here Stickle There...and Marcie!

First the Under the Mistletoe quilt. I was delighted to find that I have birchbark fabric in two shades that should be great for the background. Snowflakes and birchbark in a Christmas quilt, what could be better? I'm so excited about this quilt. The red fabric is another Moda, but not Mistletoe Manor.

The Stickles.

Plus last night at Dear Jane support group, we all tried out hand-piecing. The only hand-piecing I have ever done was to complete some short partial seams in another Dear Jane block, and I can't say I was thinking about technique at the time, I just wanted to get 'er done. Fortunately, one of our group had very recently taken the Cindy Blackberg workshop on hand piecing, so T. showed us how to do it.

I finished this one this morning, and am very happy with it. It's only a skinny schooch under the 5" size.

I'm leaving now to pick up Marcie from her daughter's house and we're going to spend the afternoon together! What if we don't like each other and we rip each other to pieces?? Oh dear this could turn into a very dramatic blog. Stay tuned.

Quilters are the Greatest. Cats are Mischievious.

When I asked her about a Christmas quilt displayed at Lolly's in Shipshewana that took my fancy (4th photo down in her post), Sue at The Monomaniacal Quilter, so kindly made a trip back there and got a color copy of the pattern, originally from Moda, and sent it to me! Many thanks, Sue! So I was gloating over this pretty pattern, Under the Mistletoe, that I now possess, when I thought, hey, don't I have some of this fabric? Fabric that I truly love? That I've never done anything with? Why yes, I believe I do:

So I will try to work these fabrics into the quilt, although there are not many duplications of the original fabrics.

Two more DJs:

Rembrandt, shown here, looking innocent...

...ran off with several of my earrings months ago before I gave up on flinging them onto a tray as I walked into the house after work. The tray was at the very top of a small (shall we say rickety) triangular shelf thing; I never saw her clamber up there but the earrings kept disappearing. Only one of a pair. The singles have languished in my jewelry drawer ever since, useless but still loved. Happened to glance into the mortar that is way back in the stovetop alcove and discovered one of them. The little blue ceramic bird that I love lol:


In closing, don't we all sleep with our faces against the window?

In a Winner's Daze

Darlene's Generous Giveaway arrived last night!

Oh, Darlene, I love every single item. Darlene's note says "thank you for being a part of my International Guild" -- our blogging community. And that is what we are, isn't it, and what a wonderful thing blogs are for us all.

This tin and supplies are perfect for me: I've been desperately grabbing supplies for classes and then putting them back; now I'll just pick up my sewing tin with its own set of supplies with no desperation at all. Thanks, Darlene!

It's 2nd Wednesday of the Month, Must be Show and Tell Time

Oh, isn't this great?  Won't they treasure these photos in the years to come?

http://www.glamour.com/sex-love-life/blogs/smitten/2009/06/a-marriage-proposal-in-a-photo.html

Show and Tell from last night's Repro Divas class.  The project was Baskets, any Baskets.  For me, this led to a new pattern called Amish Baskets, which is based on a larger antique quilt that I have wanted to reproduce for a long time (in a bedsize, so that is still to be done), with yellow feather stitch embroidery on all seams and a crocheted edging all around.  It is also tied with string rather than quilted to add to the antique look.  This pattern is 15x23":

Also, I followed Marcie Patch's Country Baskets pattern to make this version, to which I added a scalloped border.  A fellow employee had this group of fabrics picked out while we were working last Saturday (the blue Regency III, bronze print from Bonnie Blue [I had to substitute a different bronze once at home], and black Bonnie Blue Basics, and I just had to make something out of that combo:

And on to the Show and Tell.  First is from our Noble Leader (vintage rickrack is from her grandmother's stash):

some Lori Smiths...

an original creation with spectacular fabric choices:

Lori...

a magnificent Holiday Inn in elegant blues:

oh and here is the wonderful fabric combination again of the Regency and Bonnie Blues, etc.  These baskets were made from those stamping templates from Cindy Blackberg:





And from the morning group:

aw, she's all dressed up in her winter whites:

some liberation :-) :

Why I keep the printers covered:


Why I flip the light cord up out of reach. If I don't, she actually turns the light on and off which I discover later and think there's been a house invasion. Which there has been: