Three for three!

I did it! I finished my third ufo this year. This is a record for me. I'm happy with the way Slice of Summer turned out. I've had it pin basted for a couple of years and couldn't decide how to quilt it. I finally decided done was better than perfect.

oops!

Work and company have interfered with quilting this week. I love my job and Jaime; but I do miss quilting. I lost my sewing room this weekend to my daughter so she could get some sewing done. I worked on sewing on the binding on Slice of Summer. When I started to turn my second corner I found that I had sliced the binding when trimming the quilt. Big oops! I'll have to take some of the binding loose, add more and then restitch. I'm always careful when trimming but I must have been in too much of a hurry. Lesson learned.
It has been fun having Jaime here to talk quilting and sew with. She is more into knitting these days but has been finishing some of my old ufo's. I've found that's the easiest way to cut down on my ufo's, give them to someone else!

Pictures

I have all my quiltfest photos loaded on my flickr site finally! There are some awesome quilts. Hope this link works for everyone. http://www.flickr.com/gp/24328217@N06/L8WF84

Been busy

I've had a busy few days since I got home from Quiltfest! I made 2 more Civil War quilt blocks, Special Blessings and Southern Notes. I paper pieced them and had better results than on my first block. I found a wonderful pp tool at Quiltfest: add-enough by the people that make the add a quarter rulers. http://www.addaquarter.com/
It helps measure the size you need to cut. I wasted a lot of fabric on my first block.

Quiltfest was wonderful! The vendors were good and the quilts beautiful. I didn't do too much damage, I got a couple of quilt patterns and several fat quarters. I took lots of pictures but haven't figured out how to link them. I'll try to get that done soon.


Last night I took a basket class. I think my basket turned out ok, I still need to stain it.

And today I got the binding sewn on Slice of Summer, now I can whip the back down while watching tv. I almost have another finish!!

civil war block

I made my first civil war block!! Alarming conditions from the Civil War diaries. I've decided paper piecing wasn't the best choice for this block. I can't get the intersections to lie flat. I need more civil war fabric! I mostly have mediums and darks. Good thing I'm going to Quiltfest tomorrow. I'm soooooo excited! Two days of shopping! Annie and I are leaving at 7am. I'm packed and ready now. Hope I'm able to sleep tonight.

I have all the quilting done on Slice of Summer except for a few of the applique pieces. It's going really fast and I'm pleased with it. I'll post a picture when I get it finished.

sewing tote

Instead of quilting today, which I should have done, I made a sewing tote. I've had the pattern for the Sail Rigger's Bag for quite a while and decided it would be perfect for carrying around my sewing projects. It was pretty simple to make after I labeled all the pieces! It has 6 outside pockets and 7 inside pockets.

I'll be able to fill it with thread, scissors, pins, and hand projects to sew on the go.

I've also been taking an EQ6 class from Quilt University learning to draw blocks. Too much fun! I'm just afraid I'll spend more time making virtual quilts than real quilts now.
Tomorrow I will quilt.

Guild

I went to my quilt guild meeting last night. There weren't many of us there but it sure was wonderful to be with friends and talk quilting. Annie worked on her snowbound cottages but I forgot to get a picture. We try to get together every week to sew, so I will get one next week. Mary had two wonderful quilts that she is working on. The first was a dresden plate that she is hand quilting.

The top she just finished is from Kim Diehl's book "Simple Blessings". It is beautiful!

quilting

I've finished all the outline quilting and am stippling the background on Slice of Summer. I'll be able to hang it for summer!! Next week I'm going to Quiltfest in Pigeon Forge, TN. I go every year and love the show. My friend Annie and I will spend two days there this year. A couple of years ago I got to meet Harriet Hargrave and take a machine quilting class. Her quilts are awesome! I also met Marianne Fons there shopping one year. It's so exciting to meet quilting celebrities and the vendors are wonderful. I can hear my wallet groaning now!

I've been taking an EQ6 class from Quilt University this week learning how to draw blocks. I've had EQ a long time and never used it except for printing patterns. Maybe I'll be able to design a quilt to add to my wanna do list. I need to live to be 300!