Fun Day!

It started out pretty innocently, an e-mail from my friend Melisa, the owner of Sweet Home Quilt Shop in Conyers, Georgia. She mentioned receiving new fabric. Ok. I'm not going. When reading blogs and/or e-mail  this morning, my friends Gretchen and Karin both mention a possible road trip to Sweet Home. All resistance crumbled. I'm on the road. I did plan my trip. I began an LSU quilt top for my husband. I didn't  like my border choices so I canned the project for a time. I've taken it out several times to shops, but couldn't find the right borders. We did today!!! We changed the inner border to a black textured tone-on-tone and found a purple fabric with black lines in it. This is good news. I can now proceed with this one and get it finished. He can use it this Summer as he naps on the screened porch. It will be ready for football season. Go Tigers!

I also found a fabulous neutral print for the borders of my SIL's neutral quilt for this Christmas. I also picked up several fat quarters for my Patriotic Quilt.  Life is good:)

I picked up the next BOM in the stitchery BOM. It's called Ring in the New by Kathy Schmitz. I have never done stitchery. This will be new learning for me. The February block has two hearts. Looks like fun. I'd like to prep these so I can stitch in the evening on the screen porch.

A fun day with quilting friends! Thanks, Gretchen and Karin!

Two Steps Forward..... One Step Back

Hi Friends,

I made progress  on several projects this week. I did finish the Giggles top and even pieced the backing. I'm hoping to take it to the Stitch 'N Quilt  tomorrow as it is the shop sample for our Stitch 'N Sisters Club. It is a cheerful quilt. I keep thinking little girl for this one. Perhaps, one of my nieces will find this one under her Christmas tree.

The background fabric for Sunshine/Crossed Path came in the mail this week. I'm much happier with the new fabric. Sunshine is on the design wall. I've started sewing the rows together. I have a border fabric that I love. This quilt will have to be mine. I don't think I can part from it. I'll post a photo when I have the top finished including borders, my downfall.

That's the two steps forward.  Here's the one step back.  I can no longer resist the Orange Crush Mystery Quilt designed by Bonnie. I did make a decision that the fabrics had to come from fabric already  in my sewing room. I played with my '30's fabrics for a bit. I have one or two solids, but not enough for this project. I'd need to purchase more '30's solids.  So I decided to use the orange pieces remaining from the band raffle quiltI finished last summer.  I'm pleased with most

of my selections. I'd like to find a tone on tone black instead of the purple. I thought I had a piece from Little Quilts, but can't find it. What do you think of these choices?

I do have plenty of light and dark strips left-over from other projects. Even thought this is a new project, it will use up scraps and fabric that I've already have on hand. 

 Care to join me in this exciting mystery? Bonnie has even created a Yahoo group to discuss the project. Check the Orange Crush guidelines on  Bonnie's site for more details.

Happy Sewing,

Becky

Temptation!

No new projects! No new projects!  I know I've said, "No new projects", but what's a gal to do. Temptation is hitting from all sides. Bonnie Hunter is starting a new mystery quilt on April 1st. I was able to resist the mystery quilt she did a couple of months back. Carolina Crossroads is one spectacular quilt, but I resisted that one. I did so enjoy the mystery quilt that my guild did several years ago. I did complete it in the past couple of weeks. I even looked at my stash. Surprisingly, I have the right fabric to do the new mystery quilt, Orange Crush. I have some neat orange left over from the raffle quilt that I made for my son's marching band. I have lots of green, blue and black. What do I do? 

That's not the only temptation starring me in the face. The Fat Quarter Shop announced a new kit in their e-mail this morning. It's made in one of my favorite patterns, the bear paw. It's also in the colors that I love. I don't have a quilt with the bear paw block. Ok. .... I can resist this one. I do have some neat bear paw patterns in my files from quilting magazines. I think I can probably find fat quarters in my sewing room in these colors. It's a dream, an inspiration. A  maybe.....

Giggles

This is the project that I worked on this weekend. The pattern is called Giggles. The pattern designer is Tammy Tadd. I'm fortunate to have the opportunity to sew shop samples for my quilting club, Stitch 'N Sisters at my local quilt shop. I received a call last Thursday that the kit was cut (fabric selected by the shop) and ready for sewing. I sewed with one of the Sisters' groups on Friday during the day. We had a day off of school because we had not used our snow days. I was able to sew some Saturday afternoon and Sunday evening. I still need to attach the piano key border on the top and bottom. There is one more thin border around all four sides. It sure is a cheerful quilt. It makes ya giggle!

Nickel Quilts

Tuesday morning, I took four hours of personal leave  time from school to attend the Gwinnett Quilter's Guild meeting. I am a guild member, but since it is a daytime guild and I work during the day, I miss more meetings than I attend. I do try to go to the meetings in June and July when I have time off from school. The guild has wonderful programs. It's a large guild with some dear quilters.  This month the main speaker was Pat Speth, author of the Nickel Quilts Book and More Nickel Quilts. I just didn't want to miss her talk. Pat had lots and lots of quilt to show. I was sitting near the back so I wasn't able to really look at her quilts, but there was plenty of inspiration in what I could see. It was wonderful visiting with quilting  friends. Thanks Pat, Debbie, Sandy, Carol, Ann, Sharon, and Joan for a wonderful morning!

I did purchase one of Pat's individual patterns. I've wanted to make a red, white, and blue quilt for a couple of years. I think the inspiration (obsession) came from the Atlanta shop hop three years ago, when my dear friend Debbie decided to collect fabric for a patriotic quilt. Did she ever collect patriotic fabric :) I have begun collecting fabric for my own patriotic quilt, but didn't have my heart set on any pattern.  Star and Crown  is it. Now for some serious accumulating of red, white, and blue fabrics. Love that part!

Off to the Friday group of Stitch 'N Sisters. A day of sewing with quilting friends. It doesn't get much better than this!

Lucky!

I won! This weekend Pat Sloan hosted an online sewing retreat. She gave away 20 prizes throughout the weekend from the comments on her blog. Sunday evening, I won one of the last prizes. Yahoo! Pat is sending me a bag of her scraps. I love scraps especially someone else's scraps.  Thanks, Pat! This is a real treat. The whole online retreat was super. Just what I needed after an exhausting week at work.

The missing Maison de Noel fabric has been found. My friend Carol saw the picture and plea on my blog. She found the fabric that I needed in her stash and brought it to me today. Many of you checked your stashes too. Thanks for looking! 

National Quilting Day

Happy National Quilting Day!  Yes, it was yesterday, but I was  too occupied with quilty things to blog. I never quite get as much accomplished as I would like, but I am content with my progress. Actually, most of my progress was making decisions and cutting. My plan was to work on my Cross Path quilt. I bought a jelly roll at my local quilt shop, Stitch 'N Quilt and yardage from Melisa at Sweet Home in Conyers. All the blocks were finished and I was putting the blocks on my design wall to arrange them for sewing. The quilt was just not working for me. The fabric that I choose for the background blocks just didn't blend like I wanted. Of course, none of the shops have the entire line for me choose from anymore, so I went online and ordered another background fabric from the fabric line. I think I will like this one better. It really is the fabric I wanted from the beginning.

 Well,  after bagging up this project I pulled out my Christmas Toile blocks. It is getting there.  A couple of more steps and this one will be ready to be put together.  I need to make a couple more flying geese for the border. I think I was anxious to actually begin sewing on this quilt and didn't finish cutting it out like I should. Anyway, it's close to being done and that's good. Here it is almost Easter and I'm working on a Christmas quilt. Well, maybe it will be on our bed this Christmas:)

It was a  fun - reading all the posts on Pat Sloan's blog and Yahoo group. Thanks, Pat for hosting the Online Retreat!!!!!!  

It's beautiful Sunshine here today in the suburbs of Atlanta. Hard to believe that last Saturday, we had snow and that a tornado touched down in downtown Atlanta on Friday evening.  I'm putting the leash on Rusty and we're heading out into the Sunshine. I didn't finish my Sunshine quilt, but we can enjoy the real thing.

Looking for Maison de Noel

Have you ever had one of those sewing days when you just wanted to throw the entire project across the room right into the trash?  Well, I had one of those days with a Christmas tree skirt that I was working on. I cut an entire section wrong. When I looked at the pattern , I realized that I wouldn't have enough fabric for the project because I had not followed the directions in cutting the section. For this project,   I'm using an older fabric line from Moda, Maison de Noel.  I put the project aside, and out of sight. Every once in a while, I would find myself thinking about this project.  I hate wasting fabric especially fabric that I love.  I thought about using the strips and making a string quilt. I thought about making another Strawberry Pie from my friend Pat at Silver Thimble Quilt Company. The problem is that I don't like to give up on a project.

 This weekend, I took it out again. I assessed the fabric situation. How much did I need? Of which fabrics from the eight in the tree skirt would I need more ? I searched www.quilshops.com, Ebay, and Google. I found 4 of the fabrics that I needed at two online shops. I really needed only about 1/2 yard of each. I still need the holly fabric pictured on this post. I can get it on Ebay, but would cost about $10.00 for half a yard.

 Would you my online friends, please check your stash. Does anyone have half a yard of this holly fabric from the Maison de Noel line by Moda that you would sell, trade, or barter for?  I know someone has to have a piece in their stash.  

Thanks so much for looking!

Pincushions

Blueberry Lane Designs is having a fun give-away. If you post a picture of your most used pincushion, you are entered in her give-away of The Pincushion Book. Just hearing that the book if out-of-print has me fired up to have that book.  As I was taking a picture of my Chicken pincushion, my most used and favorite pincushion, I couldn't help but think that he has lost some of his spunk. :)

Saturday is National Quilting Day. Pat Sloan is hosting a sew-in. Take a look at her fabulous blog for details on the online event. It's actually all weekend. Take a look at the books that she has proposed for her book club for the next couple of months. Lots of good looking books!

Tag - I'm It....

Mary from the blog Stitches and Ditches has tagged me to list seven random or weird facts about myself. It didn't take me long to think up seven facts, but my brothers have always complained that I was weird or different :)

Here are THE RULES:

Once you are tagged, link back to the person who tagged you.

Post THE RULES on your blog.

Post 7 weird or random facts about yourself on your blog.

Tag 7 people and link to them.

Comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged.

Fact # 1: I don't have a sense of smell. I don't think that I ever had one. I do remember driving in the country at night as a child and my cousin holding her nose and saying there was a skunk. I didn't know how she knew since she couldn't see it. There are pros and cons about not having a sense of smell. I'm the person that you want to sit next to if you're hot, sweaty and smelly. I'm not the person that you want to raise the alarm if something is burning in the oven.

Fact # 2: My husband and I are both Cajuns from Southwest Louisiana. Our parents spoke Cajun French as their first language. Gumbo is a comfort food for us, not mac 'n cheese. We have lived in the suburbs of Atlanta for twenty years, but at heart we are still Cajuns. Lafayette, the heart of Cajun country is my hometown and where I met my husband.

Fact #3: My husband does all the cooking at our house. He even does the grocery shopping. I'm the one who picks up junk food and non-essentials at the grocery store. He is a fabulous cook. He specializes in grilling and smoking food. Don't tell, but he owns six bar-b-que pits. I can't complain. He uses all six of them. I guess I need to get more sewing machines to catch up him. I only have 4 machines :)

Fact # 4: My homelife is filled with males. My husband and I have two sons. We have a male dachshund Rusty. I have two brothers. I don't have any sisters or daughters. My Mom has passed, but my Dad is still living. I am very thankful for Sisters-in-laws, female cousins, and my sewing Sisters.

Fact # 5: I don't have a middle name. My real name is Rebecca. I asked my Mom one time why I was given only one name. She said that Rebecca was long enough. In the French Catholic world that I grew up in, everyone had middle names and they were usually Marie, Elizabeth or Ann. I didn't have three initials for a monogram until I got married.

Fact # 6: Reading is a natural part of my life. I can't imagine not having a book to read. It's been a long time since I didn't have several books on my night stand. I even have a drawer of books ready to read just in case I finish all the ones on my night stand. My cousin Peg who is like my sister told me one time, when we were growing up that not everyone like to read books and magazines like I did. It was pure revelation. It had never occured to me that other people didn't read for pleasure like I did.

Fact #7: This is the hard one to admit. Yes, I ran into a building coming home from the driver's license bureau. Is it no wonder that I don't have any patience to help with my son now that he has his learner's permit. You won't believe what building I ran into while trying to park. Yes, it was a Fabric Store. At fifteen, I was obsessed with Fabric Shopping or Retail Theraphy.

Ok. The hard part. Tagging seven other people. I only know a few bloggers even though I read lots of blogs. Let's try Gretchen, Karin, Cindy, Amanda, Catherine, Susan, and Vicky

Happy Quilting!

Shop Hop Confessions

Ok. It was just too much for me. I was not able to resist the Atlanta Shop Hop. Thursday afternoon on my way home from school, I stopped at my local shop, Stitch 'N Quilt. I got my passport stamped and looked at the neutral fabrics. Sandy was working that day. It was a treat to visit with her. Friday after a super day at school, I decided to travel to Sweet Home Quilt Company in Conyers. It took me almost an hour and a half driving from work to the shop. I forget that my new school is "out there". The shop was worth every minute of the drive. Melisa, the shop owner, has THE best taste in fabric. I could have purchased lots and lots of yardage. I did purchase only those things on my list. I bought 4 different one  yard and a fourth cuts of flannel for Sarah's rag quilt. I had them cut FQ's of four neutral fabrics for the neutral quilt that I am making for Janice, my sister-in-law for Christmas. So that was 5 yards for flannel and 1 yard of neutrals. I was also able to pick up the Stitchery block-of-the month that I am participating in. I have never done stitchery. This BOM will be new learning for me. It will also give me a hand project. Saturday since we were so close to Little Quilts, we took a quick detour after the workshop. There were lots of temptation waiting for us there. I found some brown textured fabric for the stars on Janice's neutral quilt. I've been looking for the right fabric and felt fortunate to find this. I picked up two neutral FQ's and black DMC floss for the stitchery kit. That's a total of 2 yards from Little Quilts.

I did bust some stash this week. The first grade teachers asked for fabric and batting donations for a project. I brought 6 yards from my stash. Gone!

Quiltathon

 Judy L. hosted a Quilathon this weekend. Yesterday was spent sewing crumb blocks and learning new techniques (thanks Bonnie) at the quild workshop.  I had hoped to sew last night, but  crashed and burned around 8:00. Because I went to bed so early, I did get up early. I had hoped to spend all day sewing, but had some issues to tend to. I did spend this afternoon in my sewing room. I worked some on my Christmas Toile blocks. I do need to finish sewing these blocks. I made a mistake cutting early on and hope that I have enough of the red fabric. I was lucky to find a Fat Quarter at Stitch 'N Quilt. I'm hoping that will take care of my error if not I'll have to go online and order a yard.  I need to pin more blocks together. I'll probably do that in a bit. I did get some flannel cut for rag quilts. I need to make a rag quilt for a graduation gift in mid June. I have 6 of the fabrics that I need. I went ahead and cut those blocks. I also sewed last weekend on my Crossed Path project. The strips were sewn and needed to be cut. I put a new blade in BIG rotary cutter and have those all nicely sliced. They are ready to be sewn into nine patches. After that, I just need to assemble the rows. I used Moda's Sunshine fabric line. Wow! That fabric talks to me! It was just what I needed as I'm longing for Springtime. Not as much time in the sewing room as I had hopes, but I was happpy the entire time that I was sewing. Thank you Judy for proposing this event!

Such Luck!

The past three days have just been awesome. Yesterday, I was fortunate to attend the Crumb Piecing Workshop with Bonnie Hunter in Marietta.  The East Cobb Quilt Guid had Bonnie in town for lectures and workshops. I just love using scraps and crumbs. Bonnie was an excellent teacher. She had wonderful hand-outs, great demos. and colorful quilts for us to drool over. Yesterday, I wasn't crazy about making Maverick Stars and letters, but I think I was just exhausted from our activities at school. Today, I like both techniques alot and think I will make those blocks in the future. I didn't take any pictures of Bonnie. I don't know where my head was. I did take pictures today of my blocks. Yesterday was also special because of spending the day with two of my favorite quilting friends, Debbie and Pat.  This is the third year that we spend the Saturday of the Atlanta Shop Hop Week together. Lots of sewing! Lots of laughter! Even some retail therapy, but more about that later! Missed our buddy Gretchen. Hopefully, she will join us next year.