Another Finished Project

Several years ago, I bought a Block of the Month complete package--reduced--at the quilt show in Jacksonville. It was the Maggie Walker Country Journal quilt. If I have actually made it, I would have had a medium sized quilt full of different kinds of chickens with a rooster in the center. It is hand appliqued and has lots of vines and flowers. Well, I did make a couple of blocks and sort of lost interest. And then I saw a table runner in a catalogue recently that had several roosters on it. And I said, "Hmm . . .looks good to me."
So, I dug out my finished blocks and made one more and then made the whole thing--three months worth--into a table runner. This picture doesn't look all that clear but I hope you get the idea (if you click on it to enlarge it you can see it better). I, of course, still have several months worth of chickens--and a rooster--left to make sometime, but I feel like I've made some progress. I have a chandelier over my dining room table that is a wrought iron rooster--so this goes QUITE well.
I want to thank all of you that held Smokey in your prayers this week. He came through the surgery quite well although he is very tired now. He can start back with a little walking tomorrow and each day he will feel better. We won't know for a couple of months whether or not the surgery was successful but the doctor feels that it was--so we're hoping for the best.
I did get a good start on writing the directions for my new quilt pattern while waiting for his release from the hospital the morning after the surgery and transferred it to the computer last night. I will proof read it tomorrow and make any necessary corrections. Now all I have to do is actually quilt the quilt. I'm working on it . . .

Moving Right Along

Since Christmas things have been pretty busy and I've not been able to do any of my personal quilting. Among other things, I just finished quilting the donation quilt for the 2010 Cobblestone Quilt Show. People are really in for a treat with this quilt. It was designed by Virginia Schrenker--with an able assist by Karen Kendo--and the result is simply wonderful. It was a challenge to quilt because of the type of background but, hopefully, it complements the design. Well, where is the quilt, you say? I guess you'll have to wait. There is still some 3-dimensional work to be done and then there will be a grand presentation at the next quilt guild meeting. I CAN tell you this though. You are going to want to purchase a LOT of tickets!
I do have one photo to post, however. While I was creating my Whither Goest Thou? quilt top, I felt that the main motif would making a really nice smaller quilt that I could design and have the patterns for sale. I was able to finally get back to that 2 days ago and just now have finished the top. It measures 41" x 41" and is called Natural Fibers--after the four cotton bolls in the corners of the applique. Creating a pattern like this can be somewhat of a challenge for the kind of math person who does everything by the seat of her pants (that would be ME). I did get it done though--with the help of EQ5 on the log cabin block sizes.
My husband will be going to the hospital tomorrow for a second heart surgery and I will be using some of the waiting time there in writing the pattern. I find it is much better to have something to focus on rather than spending the entire time stewing over the "what if's." So, hopefully things will go well and I'll come home with a finished pattern and, more importantly, a husband with a heart that is better regulated. Keep him in your prayers if you think of it tomorrow. Thanks.

At Last--A Finished Top!

It seems to take me forever these days to get anything done but--I am happy to say--I have finished the quilt top that I have been working on for months. And, like most quilts that I make, it ended up being almost nothing like I had envisioned at the beginning. All along I have had my trusted color advisor (my husband) offering me hints and giving critiques and, I must say, most of what he had to say was pretty helpful. I don't always agree with him but he sure makes me stop and consider other options. He has always been my biggest cheerleader and best support.
So, now I'm finished with the top and will move on to considering the back (I kind of already know what I'm going to do there) and then deciding on the quilting (this is the HARD part).
My inspiration for this quilt started with the background--which is composed of Japanese fabrics--the taupes and graytones that are so prevalent in their quilts. I have seen so many beautiful Japanese quilts at Houston and Paducah and so eagerly bought a stack of fat quarters when I saw them at a show. And there they sat for two years. Well, I've finally used them and, naturally, my quilt doesn't look Japanese at all. But it suits me.
Several people have told me that my main design reminds them of weather vanes and, although I kind of agreed with them, I couldn't really think of a title that would be appropriate to that idea. Until it hit me. Whither Goest Thou? kind of says it all. I think I'll stick with it.
Back to my husband. Not only is he a great support emotionally to me in my quilting, he is a great "implementor" as well. I have been working on designing a new class on making quilted mirrors (watch for it on my website soon!) and he has pitched in to make the frame-forms for the kit. (we DID have a little discussion about just what material would be best--I won!). Such a blessing to have a life partner who has a heart of love and generosity.

The New Year Is Upon Us

I know, I know--we all make resolutions each new year and we mostly mean to keep them. Every year I am convinced that I will actually be organized enough to start on Christmas present making and shopping around January 5th and my good intentions maybe last three weeks or so--until life just happens and all of those good intentions fly out to the great beyond.
Dare I say that this year will be different? I sure hope so because I'm running out of opportunities here. BUT, this year my resolutions are going to be somewhat different. With the economy the way it is, many of us have been forced to rethink what we have and how we use the things that we do have. I don't think that I'm alone in being guilty of purchasing somewhat expensive "toys" and then putting them aside for some nebulous time in the future when events in our lives won't be quite so busy.
So, I've been thinking--a lot--about what "toys" I have and just when I'm going to get around to using them. Most of my under-used things center around the computer and, thus, I have chosen that area to concentrate on this year. I bought the Viking Embroidery software almost 2 years ago and got frustrated with it right away--mostly because it was so different from the Bernina software I had used. I haven't used it any more until this Christmas and now I have made a real commitment to become proficient with it--which means that I will pretend that I do not own the Bernina software and thus will not use it as a safety mat when I want to do something easily and quickly. I've also signed up for classes to help me improve.
Along with learning the embroidery software, I will also be spending time with my unused Corel Draw software and the new version of Photoshop Elements. I've been producing my own quilting patterns for a while now and these two programs will make them a better product. (I'm getting ready to do a pattern on quilted mirrors!) And, hopefully, by the time Christmas 2009 rolls around I'll have learned a lot--including more discipline in carrying out my resolutions.
So, wish me well on my new resolutions and I'll certainly do the same for you.
One last bit for 2008. I opened my mail box the other day and looked down into the drawer and saw my quilt looking up at me. I knew this was coming, but all the same, it took me by surprise. What an honor to have my quilt, Magical Thinking, on the back cover of the NQA Quilt Journal.

Gifts Galore

I have been busy, busy, busy this season because I've made most of the gifts that I'm giving. I'm doing that because I really don't have too much choice this year--a huge credit card bill on January 15th is not something I want to look forward to. However--like so many things in life--this has really been a great blessing to me.
I haven't had any time at all to work on my "art" as I've put it aside to work on presents and, at first, I thought I was going to be grouchy about that. But it has been quite the opposite--I've felt my spirit calm and my heart soften as I've taken the focus off of myself and thought of others as I've made each gift. And, in addition, I've gotten to know the "workings" of my sewing machines better as I've used techniques that I don't normally use in my own personal quilting. It's a true "win-win."
So here are a few of the things I've been working on the past week or so:
This first small wallhanging resulted from a snowman block exchange our Mt. Pleasant, group did a couple of years ago. There are 12 blocks but I thought these 4 would made a great little quilt for my niece who is living on her own now and probably could use some Christmas decor assistance.
This next heart quilt was made from some leftover blocks from a larger one I made several years ago. This will go to my other niece who is still in college and could maybe use something that looks a little jazzier.
I started this Log Cabin w/stars at TTT this fall. It is a Thimbleberries pattern and was supposed to have appliqued pumpkins, vines and leaves. When I got it together, I felt the colors were really too bright for the added applique, so I used a border that was very un-Thimbleberries. I then washed it and dried it in the dryer and ended up with a very soft large lap quilt.
These pillowcases were a lot of fun to make and will go to young nieces and nephews. In doing this, I pulled out my Viking embroidery machine and became reaquainted with it. It does such a nice job embroidering--actually better than my Bernina--that I decided to work learning my Viking software (but that's another story). Next on my list will be a chef's apron for a male friend who's visiting for Christmas and maybe some quilted hot mats and embroidered dish towels. Who knows? But I can guarantee it'll be fun!

Such A Sweet Season

One of the things that I enjoy during the Christmas season is making sweet things that I would NEVER make the rest of the year. For some reason, I unreasonably think that calories don't count during December--just like I believe that there are no calories in uncooked cookie dough! It's the oven that activates them (Isn't it nice to be able to delude oneself so completely?)
Anyway, one of the things that I've made the last few years is caramels. Yum, Yum. They are somewhat tedious to make but, boy, do they taste good when they're finished. After measuring all the ingredients, the cooking process itself is about 2 1/2 hours--with about an hour or an hour and a half of it standing and stirring constantly.
After it reaches temperature, you pour it out into a pan. The bad part is that you can't scrape the pot to get all of it into the pan. The good part is that you then HAVE to eat what's left in the pot so as not to waste it! It then sets for about 24 hours before you cut it into pieces.
And this is where my husband comes in. He's the muscle to do the cutting. You have to spray the counter with a vegetable spray as everything is a bit sticky. And if you cut and then don't wrap almost immediately, everything kind of sticks back together. Finally, you wrap and wrap and wrap--with parchment paper that you've cut into smallish-sized pieces. and THEN you end up with a huge bowl of the best pieces of chewy candy that you will ever put into your mouth. ****One note of warning however. Two friends came over on Tuesday to make a batch together and she ended up at the dentist that afternoon after helping to "clean" out the cook pot! Care with chewing for those who have somewhat loose dental work is absolutely required.
For those who still want to make caramels after reading this description, here is the recipe. If y ou double-click it, it should be legible. For a clearer copy, it can be found on Martha Stewart's website under the name Golden Caramels. I hope you enjoy them as much as we do.

TTT Christmas Celebration

This year, the TTT gang decided to exchange Christmas presents. And today was the day! I had bought an issue of Quilting Arts magazine that had a lot of gift ideas. After looking through it, I decided to try to make mirrors based on the one in the magazine. Of course, mine look nothing like the one there and I did change the way it was constructed. It called for using heavy card stock as the foundation for the mirror itself and the quilted fabric. That just seemed too flimsy to me, so I used foam core--which was really too thick. On the next go-round, I think I'll use masonite which is thinner, but also strong. And, fortunately for me, I am blessed to have a husband who is more than willing to cut out that masonite into the sizes and shapes I want.
Here are some of the mirrors I made:




They were a lot of fun to design and create.







I took a picture of the TTT trailer with all of the gifts laid out--before we opened them but the gremlin got into the picture and it didn't turn out. However, I did capture the unwrapping process. Although it's not the best photo in the world, I think you can see that we were having a great time discovering what was in each package. For a detailed list of what each person made and for a look at Corky's beaded scissor fobs, please go to: http://fiber-thoughts.blogspot.com/2008/12/christmas-is-in-air.html. All in all, it was a most wonderful day!