Quilt guild meeting

Hello November Saturday!

Today, I attended a guild meeting of the Nebo Modern Quilt Guild. It's the first guild meeting that I've ever attended. I was so excited. My friend and neighbor, Katie, invited me and we rode together. Katie blogs over at Lady Katherine's Wheel.

Today's meeting featured a trunk show by Melissa Corry of happyquiltingmelissa. I felt like I was bouncing out of my seat. I've wanted to meet her since I started following blogs and participated in the Dresden Challenge. I've participated in two of her quilt alongs now. It was wonderful to see her and her quilts in person.  She brought all the quilts that are patterned and photographed in her book for Martingale called "Irish Chain Quilts". I want this book--it's on my Christmas list!

Here are some of my favorites:

This star chain is definitely my favorite! Everything about it is gorgeous--the colors, design, and quilting.

Yummy texture!

These two--the black and white, and Red, white, and blue, are the same quilt pattern. Another favorite of mine.

These two quilts are both Fractured. The colors are inverted for the chains. Just wow!

This is one of the chains made by piecing and appliqué. It was a quilt along last year, when the book was published, but I wasn't able to participate.

I wasn't the only one taking pictures!

During show and tell and UFO show, I was able to get up and introduce myself and show off my finished blocks for Summer Solstice by Melissa Corry!

She hadn't seen my finished blocks yet, and I think she was excited.

Someone was kind enough to take pictures of us. Melissa helped me hold up my blocks and I was excited to tell everyone how fun and easy her quilt alongs are.

The Seahawks fabrics that I ordered have arrived in the mail, so I can put this quilt top together, and the backing, too.

Block 2 of 4

Hi !!

Happy October!

Block #2 of 4 is finished!

This one actually has all the Seattle Seahawks colors together in one block!

I love it!

#SummerSolsticeQAL #HappyQuiltingMelissa

#IslandBatik

I'm trying to decide if I'm going to go all-out on this theme of Seattle Seahawks??!!

There's some awesome Seattle Seahawks cottons out there. I was wondering about a border of that, along with a Seahawks backing too?

(A snapshot of an Etsy shop called Pico Textiles)

Or batik borders with fussy-cut hawk's head from the licensed fabric for cornerstones of the border?

 Or a backing of extra-wide batik ?

Or not even worry about the Seahawks, because it's just a great color scheme with the purple thrown in, too?

Summer Solstice QAL--Drunkards Path

 Hi there!

Making more progress for the Summer Solstice QALat happyquiltingmelissa ! Yes, she had the grand finale finish link-up these past two weeks, and just posted the winners.

Here's one of my favorites:

Some of my progress on the drunkards path:

Finally, whew, I have finished the drunkards path units! They're so pretty!

I'm now ready to start building my blocks. Yay, it's a very fun part.

Meanwhile, the Payson Quilt Show at Peteetneet just finished up yesterday. I entered my baby's Winter Stars.

I'm not very happy about this picture. The other attendee that I asked to take a picture, obviously didn't understand when I asked her to take a picture to include me AND the whole quilt. Plus my little guy was wiggling. He recognized his quilt hanging in the show, right away.

I guess I didn't win any awards or ribbons, but everyone that I talked to, said they really liked it. One volunteer said she'd never have thought to use the colors together. My thought is that it is important for me to enter a creation of mine each year in a show, whether or not anyone else appreciates it. I'm proud of it, I like it, I put my best designing and work into it. At least it's being seen and I'm getting experience. 

Here's a few of my favorites entered in the show:

See you soon!

#SummerSolsticeQAL

Embroidery thread!

Oh my goodness!

Since I received my Bernette embroidery machine for Christmas, I've been watching sales and wish-listing starter packs of embroidery thread. My wish came true!

Last week, I was able to order this Sulky rayon starter pack with the Slimline storage box, from Amazon. I love coming home from errands, to find that the mail person has come! Even my toddler was excited at a new box to open!

Look at all those pretty, shiny colors!

These are my favorites, right here:

Blue, purple, silver, burgundy, green. 

Finish and progress

This week's finish is brought to you by Daine's Cotton Shop in Provo, UT. I went there to shop Row by Row Experience, for a pattern and a kit to swap. I was also looking a for a baby panel.

I found out just a few weeks ago, that my manager and his wife are not only expecting a baby girl, but he is also starting a new job at another hospital in our network....half the state away, in Southern Utah. So they are moving! I thought that a fun double-duty gift would be a baby quilt, but it would have to be simpler and less complicated than my usual work--and fast!

I finally found this cute Noah's Ark pre-printed panel, also pre-quilted. It just needed a trim and binding.

But I couldn't just let the sparse, all-over quilting alone. It needed a personal touch! So I outlined the ark, animals, borders, the clouds and rainbow. I even emphasized those adorable animal eyes!  Then I made a binding and applied the binding.

And I happened to be working at the same hospital where my manager has his office, so I finished this little cutie in time to deliver it to him personally, right after I clocked out.

I made him say "proud daddy" instead of "cheese" before I snapped the picture.

What a cute finish!

Other news:

Making progress on making continuous fusible bias binding in green. I'll need it for a few of the Row x Row patterns.

And finally had a chance to get thicker template plastic, so I could start cutting Drunkards Path pieces for Summer Solstice.

The kiddies started school this week, and I've been busting my body, walking them to school and back each day, pushing baby brother in the stroller. I have got to get back to working out!

And I've had a sore throat all week...I'm hoping I'm not getting yet another sinus infection. I'm worn out and sore all over.

My idea of a good, relaxing time on a Saturday night has certainly changed over time: my hubby is on shift at the firestation, so I want to get the kids to bed, put on a favorite movie of mine (not animated), and cut quilt pieces. Ha ha!

Half-Square Triangles--Summer Solstice

Hi !

I powered through, and finished trimming all those lovely HST. I think there's 24 of each color, making 96 total. Whew. They are 3 1/2" and ready to build blocks.

Look at my pile of spaghetti-looking trimmings!

#SummerSolsticeQuiltAlong

#IslandBatik

With new units getting introduced every two weeks, I guess that means the (possibly) most daunting unit is getting introduced later this week: Drunkard's Path ! Thank goodness, I recently bought a sheet of template plastic!

And here's my new ironing board. Just a Walmart special, but not the super-cheapo. I'm going to try out the two-piece Y-legs this time, and see if it's any more stable and less wobbly than standard T-legs. There definitely seems to be several more rivets to attach parts together.

What am I off to do now? To bed, first! ;-)

Next projects?

There's two little mini-quilts to finish quilting. (And about 8 other quilts to quilt!)

Pattern is called " Moda Love", a free pattern from Moda Bake Shop. Here, I made these minis with mini-charms. The pattern also includes instructions for 5" charms and 10" layer cake squares.

And I'm getting a small collection of Row x Row Experience kits and patterns. There's quite a bit of appliqué with these kits, so that seems like a lot of work. (I'm glad I got a new ironing board!) despite the appliqué, I love the Home Sweet Home theme, and I'm getting excited to begin.

Flying Geese: Summer Solstice QAL

Hello!

Finally finished my flying geese for the Summer Solstice QAL over at HappyQuiltingMelissa.blogspot.com !

Isn't my flock of geese just gorgeous!?

I really love working with these Island Batiks. They have a wonderful soft, smooth feel, but cut so crisply and accurately.

I'm also working on the HSTs. Pressing and trimming them takes the most time. I really like how nicely the batiks play with the Kona Cotton Solid.

In other news, my husband and I celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary on Wednesday. We had a relaxing day at home, then left the boys with their uncle to babysit, to eat at our favorite Italian restaurant, La Dolce Vita, in Provo, Utah. It's also where we ate on our first date.

And, today, my ironing board died. I noticed yesterday, while pressing these HSTs, that it didn't want to move and didn't want to adjust up nor down. It seemed really wobbly.

Today, my husband looked over at me while I'm trimming, and sees the ironing board. I cleared the board off, and he lifted it up and lay it down to check it out. Just moving the board across the room, finished it off. All the rivets have popped on the support plates, holding the legs and lifting mechanism together. It won't stand; it can't stay together.

We are going shopping for a new one tomorrow, my husband declared ! Yes, I love him!

Joining in: Summer Solstice QAL

Hi!

Happy summer! Happy 100 degrees from Utah, USA. Truly, I'm melting in a puddle of sweat.

Are you Row x Row shop hopping and swapping like I am? Are you having fun? As if we all needed more projects to Ooh and Ahh over!

I also decided to join in Happy Quilting Melissa Corry's "Summer Solstice" Quilt Along. Seriously, I just love Melissa's designs and QALs. She is so organized, has done all the math, her charts are amazing, and her tutorials are thorough and easy to follow.

Ok, so I haven't done a lot of curved piecing, and certainly haven't done any Drunkard's Path since my very first quilt, but I'm confident this will be easy-peasy. You can't help but be confident with Melissa guiding you!

I'm going to be making the 2x2 layout in the 24" blocks (see above).

I found the awesome fabric I'll be using. Remember that Super Bowl 2014 giveaway that I won from Island Batik ?

http://www.islandbatik.com

The one that totally surprised me, because I had a newborn ? Yeah, in my sleep-deprived state, trolling Facebook and dreaming of quilting while I breastfed, I guessed that the Seattle Seahawks would win the Super Bowl with a certain score, and I won the bundle of Seahawks-inspired batiks! 1/2 yd lime Green, and 1 yd each of Sugar cream, Blue Burst, and grey swirls.

I am using this bundle for my Solstice QAL. Only 2 problems: 1--I needed more cream for background, and it's out-of-print. 2-I needed another print.

I pulled a deep purple piece from the Sweethearts Bundle of Island Batiks that I won for Valentines Day 2014 (geez, apparently, having a newborn is good luck for giveaways). My story is that my quilt will be a Seattle sports dream quilt: pro-football Seahawks and University of Washington Purple Huskies. Ha ha!

I finally found a Kona solid that I was happy with, matching the creamy Sugar batik--Kona Ivory. 

I decided to use the Sugar for DP (Drunkards Path) and FG (Flying Geese), and some of the Squares.

And here are all my piles, cut, marked, and ready to sew! I'm a little behind, but I can catch up!

Yummy, yummy! So far, my experience with Island Batiks is great. The fabrics cut like butter but with a crisp finish, and there is very little raveling along the cut edges. They're soft, but feel sturdy. I'm in love with batiks already, and I haven't even started sewing yet!

Look to my sidebar, and you can see the linky to the Summer Solstice QAL at happyquiltingmelissa.blogspot.com. It's totally free with no pattern to purchase! Come join in!

HMQS wrap up

Hi,

I know that HMQS (Home Machine Quilting Show) was over a week ago. Life is busy life!

Again, I took my best friend Maggie with me. It's so wonderful to spend time with her. The only things that she knows about quilting, is what I share with her during our trip to the show, or when we spend time together. But she's never impatient as I go off on exclamations of ecstasy at different quilts or patterns or techniques that we see.

Maggie and I have another friend, Katie, who we knew at the same time. All three of us were neighbors in the same apartment building and church congregation during our college years. We've known each other at least 14 years! And we each got married to our husbands during the same summer!

Katie ended up attending the quilt show the same day that we did, and we found her! It was a lot of fun to spend time with my girlfriends, who share the love of hobbies, faith, and family (and similar tastes in art.) 

Katie only has her domestic machine to piece and quilt with, like me. While we browsed the quilts and vendors, I shared my thoughts on machines that I've test-driven, and which ones that I'd like to use/purchase, if I could. One of the fun things this year, that I hope they continue, is the Quilter's Playland or Playground. Several new Bernina long arms, new Bernina sit-downs, and several other brands on different long-arm table sets, were all set up in one area. They had sample quilt sandwiches ready for use. Katie and I got excited and had to sit down and play at various machines. We even convinced Maggie to try a Bernina sit-down. We had a hard-time leaving! Now I know what my children feel like, when I tell them it's time to go home from the playground. ;-)

This is one of my favorites from the Patriotic Challenge/Quilts of Valor section.

This is a gorgeous hand-embroidered peacock quilt. Then the maker heavily quilted the backgrounds to echo and enhance the peacocks and peacock theme.

They had a Judy Niemeyer section, and these are two of my favorites. I'm such a huge fan of paper-piecing, stars, and flowers, and Judy's designs are spectacular. I've definitely got to try one someday.  I love the purple Hosta!

This one, I'm not sure who designed it, but I fell in love. Log cabins, with circles of flying geese, inserted New York Beauty-style inside the log cabins set in Diamond patterns. Just amazing. And the variety of fabrics that are in the quilt are amazing.

This year also had a special exhibit and guest: Jenny Doan from Missouri Star Quilt Company. We loved her booth, but missed her there and at the Corton Shop's booth. But just as we were heading toward Jenny's exhibit's aisle, she and her hubby suddenly appeared! I cried out, and asked if we could meet her and get a picture. She was so kind to oblige, and give us big hugs, and her hubby was kind to snap pictures of us and crack jokes.

And we were both star struck! I introduced Katie, but forgot to introduce myself. This year, I was prepared to grab a celebrity and get a picture! Apparently, we weren't the only ones that Jenny was kind to, because when I got home and posted pictures to Facebook, several other quilty ladies posted their pictures with Jenny, too, from HMQS.

And yes, it was super-fun to see on display:  the quilts that Jenny made during her video tutorials.

 Maggie even won a FQ bundle of silly girlfriend-prints from H&W Fabrics, which she passed on to me, to make something fun. Maybe I will make us matching FQ tote bags. :-)

Katie and I both bought Labyrinth patterns by Debby Maddie at H&W Fabrics, and I bought a Stonehenge eagle panel and a couple of teal-aqua half-yards. Hey, it was the day before Mother's Day!

Maggie and I got caught in a torrential Spring hail-and-rain thunderstorm on the freeway on the way home. Wow, was that a lot of wind and water!

It was a great day with my best friends and my favorite hobby. My goal is to one day submit a quilt to the show myself, and not just be an attendee.