"Arty pic of NC Daffodils!"

The last few weeks have been busy.  We visited family and friends on vacation to North Carolina and Florida.  It was sure nice not to see snow for 2 weeks! LoL! 

          While at my sister-in-law's I had brought my I Spy quilt hexagons and triangles to pin together.  I had a box full of pins and figured I could do 200 to 400 hexies.  Well when I woke up on Monday I found she had gotten out her sewing machine and it was on the kitchen table for me to use!  Now I could sew them too.  What a doll!  I worked on this for 3 days and got all the hexies sewn and 6 rows of the quilt sewn together!  It made the vacation extra special!

We had an enjoyable time resting and getting away from the grind.

Until  Later,

            

          Marsha

On to the finish!

Working on a strip quilt. I wanted to practice free-motion quilting so I have made squares on paper and then sewing 4 together and then quilting them. After that it will be put together with an easy and fast quilt-as-you-go technique. 

 Right now, I am tearing off the paper and watching the Olympics .  Love the Opening ceremony!

Happy New Year! 

What will happen in 2014? . . . .   I don't know, but

I am looking at this new year as a new quilt!  I get to pick the pattern, the size it will be, chose what colors I want in the quilt, and search for the right fabrics to make it pop!  I get to decide if it will be a challenging pattern or something easy with little matching.  Do I do traditional or try out this new Modern Look in quilting?  Will it be wall quilt or a bed quilt.  Art quilt or one to snuggle in? 

 The same questions can be asked about life.  Do I continue to work?  Do I try a new techinque or adventure?  Is this the year we remodel the kitchen which of course means a lot of redecorating in the other rooms on the same floor. (Boy lots of choices and decisions there!)  Do join a new group?Or do I continue doing the same old thing? 

In Quilting Arts Magazine, they asked you to chose a guide word for 2014 and I have been giving it a lot of thought the last few days.  But tonight, I am choosing the word Explore.  I can explore, my quilting and the world of quilting.  I can explore my world, through trying new things and going new places, tasting new foods.  I can challenge myself to explore an activity I have never done and so on.

So 2014 will be a year of Joyfully Exploring the world and all it holds.

May you also have a joyful 2014 and do your own exploring!

Marsha

Quilt Show!

Wow!  I made it to the NQA show last Thursday in Columbus, Ohio with my sister-in-law Betty, my niece  Heather,  (Betty's Daughter) and  my grand niece Jorjia, (Heather's Daughter).  It was a fun day to be with family and quilts!  Also saw and visited with some guild friends!  The Show as very good this year. 

The quilts that made the winner's circle were exceptional.  Sharon Schamber's  'Once Upon a Time' and  Mary S. Buvia's quilt 'Once Upon a Time' were out standing.  There was a good mix of traditional quilts and art quilts,  Wall hangings and bed quilts.  Some of the quilts made political statements.  The Power Suits Quilt exhibit was displayed.  Over 100 quilters took material from mens suits and made a small quilt on the theme of "Power Suits".  These were very thought provoking and many different techiques were used in the creating the quilts.

Sue Gruber from my guild had 2 quilts entered in the show.  In this quilt, Sue hand dyed all the fabric  (see picture below) which is remarkable because she is color blind.  She had help from her hubby picking out thread to match each color for the quilting.   This picture makes the colors look primary but they were a richer color in person.  I have some scrap triangles from the edges to "play" with!

 I was looking for quilting motifs and ideas for quilting.  Here are some of the ideas I though were pretty ingenious.  Densely quilting a triangle in a plain border and then not quilting the next triangle.  It made it look pieced that way!  (Oh no,  I didn't take a picture of that!!)

 This Zig-Zag quilting in a leaf or melon shape was nice.














This heart motif was Beautiful and so detailed with crosshatching, pearls and a smaller heart in the middle.







These are some of the best Daffodils I have seen appliqued or pieced.  The ruching for the top of the trumpet just made them look real.












  I also liked how the quilter did the lily of the valleys, but I am not sure how they were done.  (Sorry for the poor picture)










Here is a picture of the entire quilt.  It was a spring garden for sure!

 I saw some really nice edge finishes. This one was hearts appliqued and then on the under side, flat cord made from fabric knotted and tacked to the heart points.

 This edging was very striking.  It consisted of  semi-circles with little prairie points  between.  There was no binding like most quilts so the edge shone and framed the quilt.  Sorry I didn't get a picture of the entire quilt. ;-(

I finished the show out with some shopping.  (Boring stuff like needles & thread.) But I did go a little, well maybe very crazy.  On an impulse,  I bought a new sewing machine.  It is the Janome Horizon machine 7700.  I am going to love it,  I loved my 6500 Janome but this one had some great new features that will make free motion quilting easier for sure.  I picked the machine up at The Red Rooster Quilt Shoppe in Dublin Ohio Saturday  morning.  I know I am kinda crazy to buy a machine in Dublin and live in BG, but I couldn't help myself. :-)


Hope many of you are able to get to a quilt show this summer.  They are so full of inspiration!

Joyfully,

Marsha

It's time to get back to some sewing!  I have puttered the last few days up in the sewing room but didn't get much done.   Mom was not a quilter, but she did sew clothes and curtains.  I  brought home  2 boxes of "stuff".  There is lots of bias tape, hem tape and even some double-knit!  (Double knit does make easy to care for tablecloths as they wash up nice, and no iron!)  I did find about 6 aprons she had cut out in the "wonderful country prints from the 1980s" and then she was going to put premade bias tape around the edges.  ugh!  I will finish the one she almost has basted, but the others will be cut into scraps via Bonnie Hunter's method.  :-)

 I am going to start back with A Lovely Year of Finishes this month.  In April, I was doing a challenge quilt for my guild which was due on April 11th  and I got it done.  Then I had to get the taxes done and on Monday the 15th, I went to take care of Mom and Dad, I never even started on the project I chose for April.  So o o o o.  I am going to make that my quilt to finish this month!  (See post of April 7th for move quilt details)

May we all joyfully finish our June projects!

Marsha

A Tribute to my Gentle-man Father

         It has been 2 months since I have written on the blog or sewed.  April was a daze of a month.  My Dad died.  He was a true gentleman.  Holding the door open for Mom and me at Wendys until the end.  He found out he had a tumor on/in his stomach/esophagus on Friday the 12th and on April 28th in the morning he left this world to be with Jesus in Heaven.
         Dad grew up during the depression and lost his father when he was 9 years old.  Fought in World War II and came home and married his sweetheart (67 years they celebrated). He started his family (3 children), and he provided for us and build a house which became a home that developed into a great neighborhood to grow up in.  Family get-togethers were many and he loved to celebrate Christmas!   He made sure we were involved in church, 4-H and  scouts.  That we played (or tried to) a musical instrument.  
          When he was 47 years old he quit his job and started a manufacturing company that made metal parts for many other companies.  Just two years ago he turned the company over to his sons.       
           Dad adored Mom.  In later years as Mom's memory failed, he became her caregiver.  When he found out about the tumor, he told the doctors,  "I have to get well to take care of my wife."  Even though he also had bone cancer, they were willing to try to see if they could give him more time with Mom.  I have to think that he was taking care of  Mom until the end. He was moved from the hospital to skilled nursing in a community home that had respite care for Mom in the  assisted living wing.  Now she is living there and doing well. 
            Dad lived 89 years on this planet and he lived it well.  His love will live on in each of his children and grandchildren.  Love you Dad!

Marsha

        Here I am down to the wire in posting my goal for April in  "A Lovely Year of Finishes".  This first week has been a busy one.

        A great thing happened today.  The temps outside hit 70 degrees!!! and one daffodil bloomed today in our garden which I can see from the kitchen sink window!! Tomorrow there should be more blooms!  I love daffodils and their yellow color.  They make me happy!

        The project I picked for this month is another layering, basting, quilting and binding of a quilt top I did last summer.  I wanted to sew a lasagna quilt (Also know as the 1600 inch quilt or a jelly roll quilt)  I went into my box of strips and found some I thought would 'play' together nicely. 

            Some were the width of the fabric and some were 22" and some were longer.  I collected what I guesstimated as 1600" and started sewing.  ( really think there are more that 1600" inches)

This is a super fast way to make a quilt! 

 I put a border of white and them some extra scraps and white for the outer boarder.   I think, I will bind with the white.   

I enjoy looking at projects everyone posts.  May we all finish our projects with Joy this month.

Marsha