Seeing Red

This weekend I was working on red and cream blocks. It is a Buggy Barn pattern, so it looks scrappy. I've cut and pieced all the parts, now it just needs assembling. Piles of partial blocks are stacked all over. It looks like I have more pieces than I need, but they will probably come in somewhere....I hope.

AQS Ribbon Winner!

Yesterday I received an exciting phone call....a quilt I quilted won a ribbon at AQS in Paducah, KY! Bed Quilts: Group. 3rd: Garden Refractions, Faithful Circle Quilters of Downers Grove, IL.

It is an orginal pattern created by Chris Moline and pieced by the Faithful Circle quilters. It is made with one-of-a-kind hand dyed fabric. The combination of pieceing, intricate applique and detailed embroidery makes this quilt special. I was honored to be asked to quilt it for them.

When I was told it was entered into the AQS show and I thought it was just going to be on display. How fun to learn it won a ribbon and awarded a cash prize!

Now that is has received an national award, the value of this quilt just went up! Raffle tickets are still available for $1 and the drawing will be held at their quilt show: September 19 & 20, 2009. Jefferson Junior High School, 7200 Janes Ave., Woodridge, IL. For more information on the Faithful Cirlce Quilters and their upcoming quilt show, visit their website http://www.fcquilters.com/

Click on the title for a link to AQS to see a listing of all the winners and their quilts.

Here are a few photos of the quilting. Click for a closer view.

IQS - Scrappy Quilts

I love the traditional, scrappy quilts ... Here are more pictures and great ideas for using up the stash. Click on photo for a closer view.

Jacket Finished & IQS

Yes - I did finish the jacket in time! Yipee... the sleeves were big, so I rolled up until I can cut them down and bind. I did add the pocket, since you can't really see the design on the front very well. I used wool batting and it is very thin and as light as a feather!

IQS was fun as usual! Lots of inspiring quilts, and tons of quilting goodies at the gazillion vendor booths. I did my part to stimulated the quilting economy too.

Here are some pictures - click on them for a closer view. There were these cool purses, all stitched - looked like leather.

Cooper

Here's my new little cutie-pie - Cooper. He's five months old and has such a sweet, curious personality. They are both chow chows. The bigger one is Natasha, 2-years old.

Jacket

Last month I took a class on quilted garment construction. Now I am determined to get a simple jacket finished by this weekend, the International Quilt Show. This is my first one.... I have no garment making experience whatsoever and it is a real challenge.

I decided to quilt my fabric on the longarm. I used a wool batt, and after it was quilted, it was washed and dried. Then I laid out my pattern pieces on the fabric and cut them out. What's so difficult about that - right?

Here are my not-so-mini mistakes (so far) - I can't put the pockets on or it will cover my quilting designs on the front - I can't figure out how to cover the seam inside the hood - I laid one of my hood pattern pieces the wrong way so now the lining fabric is going in the wrong direction. And I haven't even sewn all the pieces together yet, so there are probably more surprises to come!

This will be my first and probably my last quilted jacket, but it will be finished by this weekend -- no matter what! Maybe you'll see me walking around in it or at least carrying it over my arm!

Happy Easter

"Christ is the visible image of the invisible God."
Colossians 1:15



"For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.

This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault."
Colossians 1:19-21

How wonderful to have a loving God. Happy Easter!

Field Trip!

Good Friday....A field trip to A Touch of Amish with my Bee friends. Lots of quilting goodies! There was a large selection of civil war reproduction and I found a couple things that I just had to have! After hours of shopping, we stopped at Boloney's for lunch - yummy Egg Salad sandwich.

Next stop, Pieceful Gatherings. Very cute - look at this intricate Baltimore Album! Wow - someone really likes Halloween!

More Samples

It was a great day!

Not my colors

Have you ever started a quilt with a color pallet that you have never worked with before? These were "not my colors".

How did that happen? Last March, I won a big, beautiful raffle basket at the Pride of the Prairie Quilt Show. It was donated by Prairie Stitches Quilt Shoppe, Oswego, IL - you must visit their shop - it's so nice and bright and filled with all good things. Anyway, the basket was filled with civil war reproduction fabrics from A Morris Garden, (Moda), along with a pattern of tiny stars (Ancient Stars) and a lot of other quilting goodies. I didn't want all that fabric to go to waste, so of course I was determined to make that pattern, with that fabric.

That was in 2008 and I am still working on it. I was making quarter-square triangles forever, resulting in the little 4 1/2 inch stars. I changed the setting and added some different blocks to the border. It is my work in progress.