Time to Get Back to This . . .

Remember the Garden Club quilt I've been working on since . . . oh, I think it was probably in the late summer/early fall of 2011 when I started it. When I finished piecing Doc Monday morning, I wasn't sure what to work on next. I'd already finished this month's Autumn House and Country Cottages blocks; did I want to work on Merry, Merry Snowmen? I have nearly two weeks until the next block kit arrives, and this month's block looks like it will go fairly quickly. Or did I want to work on Harrington and Hannah? I have more than two weeks before the next block of that project is posted. I kept feeling like I was forgetting something, and then I remembered the Garden Club quilt. I hadn't worked on that for about two months. What block was supposed to be completed next?

I flipped through the book and the next block was of three topiaries--yep, I could do that easily in a couple days. So I pulled out the bag of fabrics I set aside for this project and started planning.

The really hard thing about doing a block of the month when you're not using the same types of fabrics and colors as were used in the original is trying to keep track of what colors have been used in which places. A really smart quilter probably would have made a photocopy of the overall quilt pattern--because there is a page with outlines of the different blocks that would lend itself fairly well to the idea--and colored in the blocks as she went. Apparently I'm not that really smart quilter.

What I did instead was to lay out the pieces I've made so far on my bed and take a photo of what's done. Then I printed that out as a color reference. Since I only have a couple sections left to make, I think this should work okay for me. Here's my photo, but be aware that it's kind of hard to differentiate between my blocks and the "hat quilt" that's on my bed--they both use many of the same colors and tones--and the photo doesn't really show everything--I was mostly interested in what colors are already used in blocks that border the waiting-to-be-made sections.

The topiary section I'm working on will fit above the chair and beehive on the right side of the quilt.

The nice thing about laying out the pieces on my bed is that I can see it's probably not going to be wide enough--even for the double bed I'll want to put it on--although it's certainly LOOOOONG enough. And in the original pattern, there are two long snakes running along the right side of the quilt--I'm not planning to add snakes to my quilt, so I won't even have the benefit of knowing I can count on the width of the snakes to make the quilt a little larger. What I'm thinking instead is that these quilt sections don't fit nicely together--as designed, there are at least a couple inset seams, and I don't like that, so maybe I can add a little width in those sections by adding in some small pieced blocks. Pinwheels seem right for a garden, don't they? I'll have to play around with the idea and decide.

Anyway, here's the topiary section--it's nearly done but I have two of the green circles to finish appliqueing:

The next section should be pretty fast too, so maybe I'll go on to make it. Or maybe I'll put it away until next month, because there are a couple other projects I need to work on. I don't think I'll ever lack for projects to work on, that's for sure!

Garden Club Quilt, Parts 2 and 3

I thought I'd show you my progress on the Garden Club Quilt. You've seen bits and pieces of part 2 as I've demonstrated the applique methods I use--

And then on Sunday, I was having so much fun with the applique, I went on to make part 3:

Here's a photo of the two parts together on the design wall in roughly the same places they'll occupy when the quilt is finished:

If anyone was interested in purchasing a trolley, I found them at JoAnn's online--click HERE. Someone commented about burning themselves when using the trolley--that's not usually my problem. Generally, that happens when I'm doing anything else and I've forgotten I have a hot piece of metal sitting next to my right arm. Or I'm waving the iron around and not being careful. One of these days, I'll finally learn. I hope.

Now that I've finished the third part of this quilt, I'm ahead of schedule for the BOM, so I can set it aside and get my Christmas bed quilt quilted. And, of course, I still have my crack bunnies to finish. When it comes to quilting, there's just never enough time, is there?

Garden Club Quilt, Part 1

I've mentioned a couple times that my stitchery group decided to work on the Garden Club Quilt--it's the main quilt from this book:

The quilt is meant to be constructed in block-of-the-month type sections, and the first section is the part that's on the cover of the book up in that box in the right hand corner (minus the flying geese on the left side). See that?

I finished that section and wanted to show you--

While I love the darker folk art/homespun look of the original, those shades remind me of fall and winter, and I already have plenty of quilts for that time of the year. Instead, I decided to make mine a little brighter, so it would fit better in my home for spring and summer.

There are additional smaller projects in the book using some of the images from the larger quilt. For instance, there's a wallhanging with the basket of flowers in the center. That wallhanging project uses more flowers in the basket, and I liked that fuller look better, so I added more flowers to my basket in part 1.

I don't think I'll start the next section just yet. I'm not sure what I'll work on next, but I'll be sure to let you know when I do. What are you working on?

Miscellaneous

I've been meaning to update you on the Christmas porn front. Remember I was talking about my blog stats and looking at what kind of searches brought people to my blog? Well, Christmas porn has been a popular search. Seventeen hits this week. People are odd, aren't they? As an experiment, I Yahoo'd and Googled "Christmas porn" and didn't see my blog come up at all on the first couple search pages, but that's as far as I got--I was sidetracked looking at all the rest of the Christmas porn. Mrs. Claus has been particularly naughty this year. (Okay, I didn't really look. I didn't want to chase away those visions of sugar plums dancing in my head.)

Someone left a comment asking about the pattern for the Garden Club quilt. (I'm too lazy to go back into my emails to see who it was, but I DO know they were "no-reply" because I attempted to reply on my new Kindle, and it was kind of a pain.) The quilt is the main project in a book entitled [drum roll, please] Garden Club Quilts. If you're interested in making the quilt, you can find the book used through Amazon by clicking HERE. I love Amazon's used books--I buy used to buy a lot of my books there. And did you know you can become a seller too? I turned over a bunch of my unwanted quilt books to the Wild Child and she's listed them--I told her if she makes any money, she can keep it for her move to New York. I'd insert a shameless plug with a link to her book listings here except I have no idea what her seller name is.

Someone else left a comment a week or so ago asking me how I get comments in my e-mailbox and move them into folders for my giveaways. There's a setting in Blogger under the "comments" tab that asks for an email address for comment notification. I have my email address listed there, and all of my comments come into my mailbox. And because I have a Yahoo mailbox which allows me to make subfolders, I can set up folders for the giveaways I do. After I read a comment, if the person wants to be included in the drawing, I move their email into the appropriate folder--that way I don't have to re-read comments from people who don't want to participate, and I don't have to print out all of the comments. I just pick a number (either through a random number generator or a random family member) and count up to the winning comment. Easy peasy!

I'm sure I've mentioned before how much I dislike mornings. I don't think people--except maybe farmers and ranchers--were meant to get out of bed before the sun is fully risen. Had my garbage man ascribed to that belief, Tuesday morning would have been better for me.

I woke up about ten minutes before my alarm was set to go off, and knowing I wanted a bit more sleep than THAT, I reset the alarm. Just as my head touched the pillow and my eyes were nearly closed, I heard the sound of the garbage truck grinding down a nearby street. Because we were a bit discombobulated over the days of the week due to Christmas and then the holiday on Monday, I wasn't sure the Wild Child would have remembered to wheel the cans down to the street. So, of course, I jumped out of bed, pausing only to turn off the alarm, and high tailed it out to the side yard where I found the cans HAD been moved for pick up.

Nothing to get too excited about there, right? Well, when I got back into the kitchen, I wasn't quite in full possession of my faculties--not like I would have been had I begun the morning in a more leisurely, civilized manner--and when I went to pull out the coffee maker's water reservoir to make a fresh pot of coffee, imagine my surprise to find the reservoir already FULL of water. Not expecting the added weight, as soon as the reservoir was free of the holder, my wrist flopped over, and water poured all over the countertop, down the cabinet and the front of the dishwasher, and splashed all over me. Nice way to start the work week, eh?!

But my early morning escapades didn't end on Tuesday. This morning I woke up around 4:30 a.m. to the sound of a cat batting one of the Christmas ornaments on the bedroom tree. Sitting up in bed, I hissed "STOP IT, MISTER!" Stitch sat on the dresser, calmly looking at me. I laid back down and started drifting off to sleep when I again heard the tap, tap, tap of a batted ornament. "Okay, that's enough," I thought, and jumping out of bed, I grabbed Stitch to assist him in reaching the other side of the closed bedroom door. Unfortunately, Stitch was somehow attached to the tree--hard to have known or anticipated since it was still pretty dark in the room. The longer the tree "followed" us, the harder his claws dug into my stomach/chest/arm. I swear he grew at least two more paws! The tree ended up on the floor, Hubby sat bolt upright (and confused) in bed, and Stitch happily left the bedroom (and his bleeding victim) far behind.

After picking up the tree and all the ornaments, I went back to sleep until the alarm went off a couple hours later. At least I didn't have to make coffee again this morning.

Oh, and I DID wake up--that second time--feeling a little better than I did last night. I really DO think it must be allergies. AND I think I've made friends with my Kindle. At least I'm starting to understand it a little more. I just need to finish the hard copy book I'm currently reading so I can try out an e-book and see how I like it.

If you've posted any questions in comments that I haven't answered or if I've forgotten to follow up on anything I've written about, let me know. With the year coming to an end, it's nice to tie up loose ends.

Have you accomplished what you hoped to accomplish in 2011? We'll talk about that in the next day or two, so give it a little thought if you haven't already. Thanks for stopping by!

Sunday's Stitchery Gathering

The other day, our little group of six stitchers gathered at Sandy's home for the day, and as always, we had a wonderful time! My friends are all so generous, kind, and fun, and they're all good cooks on top of it!

Each of us take turns hosting the gathering at our homes. The hostess usually prepares or provides something for a light breakfast (normally something like muffins) and a main dish for lunch. The rest of us bring a dish to contribute--salads, dessert, appetizers, etc. This month, Sandy chose to make a clam chowder that was as good as any I've had in a restaurant--yum! I'm going to make it for my family soon, and I'll share photos and the recipe when I do.

My contribution was the cupcakes I mentioned the other day. I ended up trying out Mean Chef's Vanilla Buttermilk Cupcakes this time, although I still want to make the Magnolia Bakery Vanilla Cupcakes--soon! I thought the cupcakes turned out like I hoped, but I need to find a different frosting recipe--my standard buttercream frosting is too sweet and heavy for these, I think. I guess I'll have to experiment--and don't you just HATE having to taste test stuff like cupcakes? Such a burden.

I can show you now what I've been working on for my friends--Halloween treat bags. I originally made similar bags last year and posted instructions--there's a link in my sidebar. This year I purchased another digital download and printed the graphics onto muslin as I did before.

The bags were filled with either a pumpkin or apple bread mix, a can of cinnamon pecans to mix into the bread, and Halloween candies.

There's never any pressure at our gatherings to exchange gifts, although most of the time we do. And none of us are in a position to spend a great deal of money, but the gifts are always thoughtful and valued by the recipients. I believe most of us enjoy thinking during the month about what our friends might enjoy and planning for our get togethers. I've already started on the little gifts I'm making for them next month--but, of course, it will be awhile until I can show you!

I don't know if you remember, but I mentioned our group was going to start working on the Garden Club applique quilt. With that in mind, Imelda gave us a lesson in her method of applique, which uses freezer paper, starch, and applique glue. She drew up a little design and put together kits for our lesson, and we each came home with a little pumpkin applique.

I want to make my little pumpkin applique into something, but I'm not sure what yet. Maybe I'll just add some embroidered words and put it into a frame. I'll have to give it a little thought.

When I mentioned in my blog that we were going to work on the Garden Club quilt, a couple of you said you were working on it or planned to make it soon. How is your project coming along? I've made a start on it, and I'll show you in the next day or too what I've done so far.

I'm glad you could stop by for a visit!

Happy New Year!

I've heard it said that a person should usher in the new year doing what they plan to do all year long. I followed that recommendation this year--I spent most of New Year's Eve on the next applique block for the Garden Club quilt.

In 2011, my quilting "goal" was to finish up 11 quilt projects that I'd begun or needed to made for one reason or another during the year, and I managed to reach my goal in the final days of December. For 2012, my quilting "goal" isn't as results driven. My plan is simply to spend time working on applique projects--which really is my favorite quilting technique. And although my emphasis will be on applique, I will also try to direct at least part of my focus on finishing up a few projects, like getting a few more quilt tops quilted. And I actually have a couple of quilt tops that are just waiting for applique to be added, so those projects will be high on my list. Finally, because I know I'll want to do SOME piecing, I'll continue to play along with the monthly Schnibbles group hosted by Sherri and Sinta.

So those are my plans for the 2012 quilting year. How about you? Do you have a quilting plan?

So, What Else Have I Been Doing Lately?

I'm almost embarrassed to tell you this, but I made another quilt last night. A smallish one--only a little over 20" square. I know, I know--you're wondering again whether I ever sleep, right? Well, in this case, I guess the answer would be, "No, not too much!"

I wasn't feeling well yesterday and came home from work a few hours early. After napping for a couple hours, though, I felt much better, so when I made my way into the Sweat Shop around 5 p.m., I decided to check my Jo's Little Women Club folder to see what we were supposed to have worked on this month--our club meeting was tonight.

A 9-patch challenge quilt. We were to make any sort of 9-patch quilt we wanted and there'd be a prize for the winner. Well, how could I pass that up? So I got busy cutting and stitching. Pinning. Quilting. I wasn't the slightest bit tired--I guess that nap really helped a lot. Sometime in the wee hours of the morning, I stitched on the binding. And at that point, I went to bed and managed to get about 4-1/2 hours sleep. I only had to sew down the binding in the back during my lunch hour today.

As you can see, I'm still kind of stuck on the blue and orange. I used more of the leftover scraps from the Happy Jacks quilts in this one. And at the Jo's Club meeting, I was the only one who made a challenge quilt, so I won this Jo Morton book--

Doesn't my new little quilt look nice on my cookbook shelf? And sitting on top is one of the homegrown pumpkins I picked the other day from our garden.

Here's another of our pumpkins.

And another.

And finally this one--recognize the basket? After putting some stuff together for the photo to share with you the other night, I reassembled a collection of "stuff" for the final version.

But the best pumpkin arrangement I've seen this year? And no, sad to say, it's not mine. This is a photo Anna sent. I thought you'd enjoy the harvest moon.

HAPPY OCTOBER, my Blogland friends!

Merry Christmas!

My Christmas Eve day was spent in a fairly relaxed way. I did a little "puttering" around the house, doing some light cleaning to get ready for THE DAY. I went through all of my quilting books, culling out the ones I no longer want and reshelving the ones I do--all as part of my whittling down of quilty stuff. After the "chores" were done, I got out the book and fabrics for the Garden Club Quilt and started section 4. While I appliqued the first part, I watched the first Sherlock Holmes movie--the one that came before the movie that's in theaters now. All in all, a really nice day!

I mentioned showing you the three quilty gifts I made this week. Maybe you've seen the pattern for making quick tablerunners using a striped "border-type" fabric? I can't remember what it's called or who it's by, but it's a simple concept. A 60 degree triangle "ruler" and the fabric itself does most of the work, so it was possible to make a couple of nice gifts fairly quickly.

The two "round" ones went to my two work "lunch buddies." The three of us try to get out to lunch--usually Chevy's--every week or two. The longer runner was for another friend from work--someone I've known there since I started. I was so glad to be able to make gifts for these special friends.

I made a fourth, longer tablerunner that I was going to give as a gift but I realized how perfectly it went in my livingroom, on the chest we use as a coffee table. I didn't have a runner or tabletopper on it, and it was taking a bit of abuse from--well, I'm not sure. It looked like hot cups had been put on the wood, but I never actually SAW anything put down that shouldn't have been, so I'm not sure what was causing it. In any event, the chest is now better protected and I've paired up some homemade edible goodies with a purchased gift for the person I initially thought I'd make it for. And really, I'm pretty sure that it's a better choice in this instance anyway, so it's all good.

This evening when I went to take a photo of the runner on the chest, I noticed Stitch was nowhere to be found. I guess he's hiding from Santa. Where could he be?

Aren't animals funny?

I picked a winner for the quilt top I showed you yesterday. Cory said, "My church's Hugs Ministry would gladly accept this top. We make quilts, pair them with stuffies and give them to the local fire department for kids in crisis situations. Thank you for the opportunity to add to a ministry that is very near to my heart. Merry Christmas to you and your family. Take care and God bless." I think you'll agree with me that the quilt top will be going to a good home. Cory, please email me your mailing address and I'll get it in the mail when life gets back to normal on Tuesday.

If I don't post tomorrow night, it will be because I'm spending time with my family and/or am worn out by the festivities of the day. Now, though, I'm going to try to get to bed early with a book and a cup of hot chocolate and wait for Santa to arrive. I hope you and yours have a wonderful holiday. Merry Christmas!

The Day After the Friday Night

On Saturday, I added a wing to my naked chicken and made the pieced parts of blocks 6 and 7 of the Garden Club quilt. I trimmed the appliqued pieces to size (I always start with the background cut a little larger than I need) and sewed the parts together into their sections.

After that, I couldn't help but pull out a couple of pieces I made before to see how they look together.

I'm really liking this quilt a lot! I still have something like four sections left to make, not including the borders, but I feel like it's really coming together now.

A couple of you have commented that you have the book but haven't made the quilt yet. I bet you'll love it when you do! The applique is fairly easy as are the pieced blocks. I'm kind of sorry to see this project put away for another month, but it's time to move onto something else. That's the thing about working on block of the month quilts--you might be really into what you're doing and not ready to set it aside, but then again, you probably won't get bored with a project.

On a Roll . . .

Okay, raise your hand if you're doing the Merry, Merry Snowmen block of the month this year.

Wow! Of the ten people who regularly read my blog, four of you are doing this block of the month! I'm impressed!

And in addition to you, four of us in my stitchery group signed up through a shop online before any of us knew that some of our local shops were also offering it. But a fifth person in our group is doing it through a local shop. And guess what arrived in the mail last Friday? The goodies to make the first block! Wooo-hooo!

Here's mine--

Nope, not letting any moss grow on this particular stone; not when it's just the first month, anyway!

I made a couple small changes to mine. I used a different fabric for the top of the cupcake stand. In the original quilt, it's made with a different taupe fabric, but I didn't think there was enough contrast between that and the cupcake, so I pulled out a pinkish-red French General fabric from another line, and I think it's a better contrast. I also embroidered the "Merry Merry Cupcake" sign in black instead of red. I think the black stands out a little more, and I like that. NOT so intentionally, I used a different toned solid for the square in square blocks and the right side strip--I think the one I was supposed to use is a little more tan. I just didn't realize there were THREE solid fabrics in the packet; I thought there were TWO. I don't think it will make much difference, though.

I'm almost running out of applique projects, and I have a day of stitching planned for Friday with some of my friends, so I'm trying to get the next block or two of the Garden Club Quilt prepped. And, of course, I have several other non-applique projects I'd like to work on this weekend. How about you? Do you have some quilt projects planned? This Friday, February 17th, is the Friday Night Sew-In over at Heidi's--don't forget to sign up! Just click HERE to get the information and add your name to the list. I hope to "see" you there Friday night!

Happier

Thanks for your comments about my being out of sorts. I know I can't beat myself up for not feeling like doing much after I've come home from work--after all, it's my first week back, and then there's the end of daylight savings time which makes it FEEL like it's later than it is. But it's so much more FUN to sew than it is to melt into the couch every night, watching TV that seems to have become much more graphically icky lately. (I think I usually don't notice because I'm sewing and just listening instead of watching!)

In any event, I decided I'd go about things differently tonight and just go into the Sweat Shop after dinner no matter what I felt like--and it worked. Of course, tomorrow (Friday) is a holiday from work, so that makes it a little easier to play and worry less about the time and getting to bed.

Saturday I'll be getting together with my stitchery friends, and you may recall we had all decided we wanted to work on the Garden Club Quilt this year. That thought was my reminder that to keep on track with making this as a block of the month, it was time to start working on the second section of the quilt. That section consists of two appliqued blocks joined by a little bit of strip piecing. I finished the first appliqued block tonight--

It's the one to the left with the elongated tree, birdhouse, and bird. To the right is last month's section. (The new section will eventually be added to the bottom of the first section.)

Here's a look at the cover of the book that shows the quilt:

Tomorrow I'll work on the rest of this part and try to remember to take some photos so I can show you the applique methods I like to use. See you then!

Leavin' on a Jet Plane . . .

I'm a bit sad tonight because the Wild Child left for New York where she plans to live and go to school for the next few years, if everything works out as planned. Of course, we expect to see her a couple times a year, and technology such as Skype makes it possible to stay in contact, but it's certainly not the same as having her live close to us. On the other hand, I'm excited for her too--I think this just might be a marvelous adventure. Overall, though, I think I'm just glad this week will be a busy one--it will give me a little time to adjust to her absence and not so much time to think about the fact that she's not here.

I'm also a bit sad tonight because it appears Hubby hasn't escaped this awful "worse than a cold but not the plague" illness that's been going around. It's been awhile since the Wild Child and I were at a contageous stage, so I thought he'd managed to evade the bug, but that doesn't appear to be the case, poor guy.

While I was ill, whenever I felt up to it, I worked on a bit of applique--and that wasn't really very often! I spent most of the time sleeping or reading. Just about the time I started to get sick, though, I was working on the last block of the fifth section of the Garden Club quilt and I did get that one finished:

Tomorrow evening I'm meeting with three of my friends to start on the first block of the Autumn House applique quilt by Bunny Hill. Our monthly meetings will mainly be spent deciding which fabrics to use for our blocks. We've pooled what fabrics we've "collected" so far, and we'll share what we have with one another. I think our quilts will end up looking similar but none will be exactly the same. And, of course, you know I'll probably tweek things a bit, although probably not nearly as much as I've changed the Rabbits Prefer Chocolate quilt. I've done a little more work on that one too--I'll show you where I'm at with it in the next day or two.

I'm glad you stopped by for a visit!

What a Day!

Before work, I noticed the clematis on the patio was starting to bloom, so I grabbed the camera and caught a photo.  I love these plants and I wish I had several varieties--maybe I'll look for another one this year.  Some are hardier than others though, and I definitely need one that's going to grow even under abusive circumstances--I tend to ignore the garden for the most part and Hubby tends to cut everything back whenever he can.

Until I plugged the camera into my computer to upload some photos, I'd totally forgotten the day also started off with me stuck in mostly stopped traffic for an extra 45 minutes on my drive to work.  This is the second time in two weeks something like this has happened--last week there was a fatality on the freeway and every route in either direction was stopped--and not just the freeways.  I know this because I tried several alternate routes, and it didn't make any difference.  Today I just waited it out because I had no idea what was causing the slow down.  It's usually very rare that I'd be anything like this late to work.

As it turned out, when I took this photo, I was finally nearing the problem.

See that overpass ahead and the crane?  That's a freeway up there and traffic was stopped or slow on that road too.  They've been doing construction on the overpass to widen it or reinforce it or something--I'm really not sure--but this is the first time it's affected traffic to this degree.  For most of the route, the road is two lanes in either direction and travels at 50 mph, although at this point, it narrows to one lane.  It was backed up for miles while they moved heavy equipment from under the overpass and did whatever these guys do.  Crazy.

Then at work we had a little bit of an incident.  You know I work for a law firm, right?  I really can't say anything specific because of confidentiality concerns, but a woman was in our office giving a deposition and she had some kind of a problem--whether it was a panic attack or medical or what, I'm not sure.  We had to call emergency services to take her to the hospital.  Definitely NOT something that happens every day!

I think I said I'd try to remember to take my camera to the Thimbleberries Club meeting and I did, but I sort of forgot to take photos during show and tell until this quilt was being shown.  The quilt itself was made by an almost-90 year old woman and it's probably the last quilt she'll ever make because she was struggling to remember how to do the binding.  The woman who is holding the quilt offered to do the binding for the elderly quilter.  Sweet, isn't it?  I hope someone will be that kind to me someday.

When I came home from Thimbleberries, I thought I'd make the next block for the block of the month.  And it's a basket for May!  I may applique a couple flowers in the basket but I'm not sure.

Here are all the blocks together so far:

I don't know if I'd mentioned it before, but I'm using scraps for this quilt too.  Well, I did mention I don't seem to have any problems using my Thimbleberries scraps and this is one example.  All of the backgrounds have been scrappy so far except for this month's block.  Unless I changed the block construction, I would have had to make those two large upper corners out of one fabric and I thought that making the rest of several different creams would have looked even funnier.

I saw a wonderfully scrappy quilt at the quilt shop and I took a photo, but I'm going to save that to show you a little later in the week.  It's time now for me to make my way toward bed because this crazy day is finally coming to an end.  "See" you tomorrow!

A Quilty Sort of Day

Yesterday I went to San Francisco with two girlfriends to celebrate my sister-in-law's birthday and see Menopause, The Musical--we had a wonderful time! Tomorrow, I go back to work after having a week off. I decided today would be a good day to get some miscellaneous quilting tasks done.

As it turned out, the day was devoted to Thimbleberries projects. First I finished up some 9-patch blocks for a swap with my online group. Those will go off in tomorrow's mail to the gal hostessing the swap.

I moved on to cutting strips for another swap with the same online group. Those will also go off in tomorrow's mail. Then I can just sit back and wait for the goodies to come back to me in the mail in the next few weeks!
















My Thimbleberries Club meets on Wednesday, so I thought I'd make some pot holders--this month's extra project. I didn't want to make heart pot holders, which was the suggested project, so I pulled three Christmas-themed star blocks from an earlier swap with my online group. Won't they look cute in gift baskets for Christmas?


The last project I completed today was a block for the Thimbleberries Club block of the month quilt. I'm making the quilt half the size of the original pattern. I've modified this month's block slightly (besides shrinking it) by adding a colored center. This year's quilt is called Home and Garden; I think the pink and red center makes the block look a little bit like a flower.

Then I spent the rest of my time working on the appliqued center of the quilt I began in Jo Morton's class on Thursday--Emma's Quilt. No photos of that one yet, as I still have some way to go. Now that I have these done, I'll be switching out my Bernina for my Juki so I can get a St. Patrick's Day table topper quilted and onto the table before the holiday. Not tonight though--this quilter has to go back to the real world tomorrow, so the Sweat Shop is closed for the evening.

2012--A Year of Applique

I don't expect you remember me mentioning a month or two ago that I thought I'd devote myself mainly to applique in 2012, but I'm still serious about that idea. I've really enjoyed the applique I've done lately--it's very restful and it really doesn't take as long as most people might think--even though most of the applique I do is hand applique. I'm really enjoying the method my friend Imelda taught us, using starch, a mini iron, and a bit of glue. (I think I did a little tutorial on that method, right?)

I used that method on this little Santa project, and look how fast it went--three evenings from start to finish!

Speaking of Imelda, I was at her home tonight for a holiday open house--a couple other women from our stitchery group were there too, and we talked about quilting, among other subjects. Imelda does lovely work, and applique--especially if it's a Bunny Hill design--is one of her favorites. When I was cleaning out my patterns the other night, I found that somehow I'd purchased two patterns for Autumn House by Bunny Hill, so I wondered if Imelda wanted one.

Of course, she already had it, so we hatched a plan to work on it together. AND one of my other stitchery friends was interested in joining us, so I found a home for my extra pattern AND I have a fun project to look forward to working on with friends next year!

I started the ball rolling on YET another applique project today too. Another Bunny Hill design. Shhhhhh! I'm not telling Hubby for now! But I signed up for the Merry Merry Snowmen Block of the Month. Isn't it great?! And that French General fabric looks just right!

So that one will start in February. And, of course, there's the Garden Club quilt I started a couple months ago. Plenty to get me going in the new year!

Here's another pattern I came across when I was cleaning out--

Another Curtis Boehringer Santa pattern--this one is from a line called Father Christmas From Far Off Lands. This is Pere Noel from France. I also have an Irish Father Christmas, but I'm keeping him for now. Hubby comes from an Irish background, so I might decide to make it someday; not so much Pere Noel. Would you like to invite Pere Noel into your home? Leave me a comment and I'll draw a winner tomorrow night and announce who won on Sunday's post. I can mail to the US and Canada. The quilt is 32" x 44"--kind of a nice size for a wallhanging.

I bet you'll be busy this weekend, getting ready for Christmas--me too! Thanks for taking the time out of your crowded schedule to stop in for a visit. I hope you'll find a little "play" time this weekend also! And remember the cardinal Christmas shopping rule: One purchase for gifting, one purchase to keep, one purchase for gifting, one purchase to keep, . . . .

The Day After . . .

Did you have a wonderful Christmas? We had a lovely day, Hubby and I and our kids (including Soccer Son's Lovely Wife to Be Someday). We gathered in the late morning to open gifts and have Christmas lunch before going to see Hugo in 3D. It was the first time in years I've watched a movie in 3D--pretty fun!

We all agreed the movie was a good one, and afterward we returned home to make egg rolls and jalapeno poppers to snack on while we played Apples to Apples and the card version of Monopoly. Other than the fact that I didn't win a single game, I enjoyed myself the entire day.

I find it's really kind of weird having adult kids who buy us nice gifts. The Wild Child gave me cheese making lessons for three (if we can arrange it before the Wild Child moves to New York in a couple weeks, she, Soccer Son's LWTBS, and I will take the class). Soccer Son, et al., gave Hubby and me a gift certificate for a night's stay in the same hotel we spent our honeymoon night in a quaint, touristy town about an hour or two away. Am I spoiled, or what?

Hubby and I have an agreement not to get gifts for one another, and every now and then, one of us cheats. This year it was him: He bought me a Kindle Fire. Between you and me, I've been pretty resistant to reading something that's not a good, old-fashioned, paper book, but now that I have this device, I'm kind of excited about it. I unpacked it tonight and I have it charging. What do you think? Do you have one? Want one? Wouldn't want one?

Today I got together with a friend, Imelda, to talk about the Autumn House applique project we're planning and have lunch. We looked over the fabrics we've both been "collecting" and agreed we probably have what we need. We hope to get together with two other friends once a month to share fabrics and encourage one another. I'm really anxious to get started soon.

In the meantime, I've been working on section 4 of the Garden Club quilt, and I just finished the parts for that this evening.

I haven't decided yet whether to go on to section 5 next or get back to my Rabbits on Crack applique. I DO have a little non-quilting craft project to work on this week, though, so it may be neither applique project for a day or so.

It's back to work for me tomorrow, but at least it's only four days of work and then another three day weekend. We almost always spend a quiet New Year's Eve and I think this year will not be an exception. How about you? Do you have any fun New Year's plans this year?

Friday Night Sew-In Results

I guess Friday "Night" isn't quite accurate since two of my stitching friends and I spent the entire day together sewing! I arrived at Gran's house at 11 a.m. and started in on my applique. A couple hours later, we took a break to enjoy a lovely big salad and bread for lunch. Then it was back to more stitching.

By dinner time, a fourth stitcher joined us and we went out for Chinese food. Eating and stitching all day--what could be more fun? And, of course, enjoying the companionship of good friends.

Two of our friends were ill and unable to make it today, but I'm sure they'll be back with us by the time we have our next regular get together. We wound up the day around 10 p.m. with a little dessert and packing up. All in all, we accomplished a lot and had a great time doing it.

Up at the top is a photo of the applique pieces I completed--these are from the Garden Club Quilt project. I think I'm going to add a wing to that brown chicken tomorrow--the more I look at it, the more I think it needs something.

Did you participate in the sew-in? What did you work on? Whatever it was, or whatever you did if you didn't sew, I hope you had as wonderful a time doing it as I did!

Scraps . . .

of things to talk about today. First off, it's back to work for me. Do you feel my pain? Back to the "kids" to see what they've been up to, and I'm pretty sure it means a good amount of work for me, but I guess that's what allows me to pay bills and buy fabric! Tomorrow night I have my Jo's Little Women Club and I haven't made this month's project, a journal cover--too many other projects calling out for my attention. In fact, I haven't made any of the projects for the last two months because I was working on my Quilter's Hollow Retreat (aka "The Monster"), so I'll take that along with me for show and tell, even though it's nothing like the cute little Jo Morton projects!

May Britt asked me about the roses in the center of the Round Robin quilt, and I mentioned to her that I had made another quilt using the same kind of roses. She asked me to post a photo, and we all know that May MUST BE OBEYED! If you read her blog, you know May is recovering from shoulder surgery and planning all sorts of new projects while she recuperates, so I thought I'd show this one:

Here's another closer shot of part of the quilt.

The roses are fairly easy to make. Start with a center and sew on scrappy strips, pressing each back as you go around and around. Vary the colors of the fabric a little so you get some petal definition. Once you have your "rose" large enough, trim the edges a bit so they look more like petals and applique them on.

I've been working on an older applique project in the evenings and watching movies with my husband while I sew. Last night we watched The Painted Veil which I thought was a really excellent film! It's set around 1925 in China and it "feels" like a real old-fashioned movie. If you're looking for something good to watch, rent this one. We also watched The Queen the other night and thought that was quite good too, but it didn't touch the heart the way The Painted Veil does--sorry about the too-dark photo. Hey, I'm a quilter, not a photographer!

I've found my Hometown Christmas kit! Woo-hoo! I was all ready to cut into it when I remembered that there were things I wanted to change, so I'm taking a little time to look at the pattern and try to remember what those things were. We now have 12 of us working on this project (along with a few others who don't have blogs to link to), and you'll see in my sidebar that in the last couple days, I've added several quilters' blogs. Tina, Cathy, Patty, Beth, and Michele are all members of my online group and have just started blogs. Check them out if you get a minute!

And look what I found when I went looking for my Hometown Christmas kit!

These are the blocks for a much older Thimbleberries BOM, The Quilters' Garden. I had made all the blocks but wanted to set them differently, so I put them aside. This photo shows the "original" configuration of the quilt minus the setting triangles and borders, but I still want to do something different. I'm going to leave it on my design wall for now and think about how I might want to set these. I don't think I'll use those pre-printed squares, but I thought I'd stick them up there for the time being.

That's about it for today, I think. See you tomorrow!

New Toys for ME!

Having spent two of the last three evenings in quilt shops, I suppose it was inevitable the Sweat Shop would gain a few new additions. I swear I have no willpower! Sometimes I read Vicky's confessional blog posts about how far she's fallen off the latest fabric diet and just shake my head and feel a little sorry for her--of course, I can't feel TOO sorry for her since she has all that lovely fabric. But really I probably have less willpower than Vicky--I think the main difference is that I don't even TRY to do the fabric diet thing. Then there's the second big difference--so far my kitchen cupboards hold . . . well KITCHEN stuff, not fabric!

And speaking of Vicky, she MADE me go on over to the FQ Shop and buy some of Minnick & Simpson's new Winter line. These are the wonderful designers of the Prairie Paisley yumminess and I think I'm probably destined to buy some of every line they design in the future. But Vicky megged me on this one, that's for sure. From now on, I think I'll have Kimberly Jolly send Vicky my fabric bills! And while I was button-poking with the best of them, I poked a button that added to my order a pattern called Winter Charms by Late Bloomer Elizabeth. Here are my It's-Totally-Vicky's-fault goodies (that's a layer cake of the Winter fabric):

If you like these, you can get your own--just go over to the FQ Shop and tell them to charge it to Vicky!

Okay, and that's not even what I started writing about--the two-quilt-shops-in-three-days-and-boy-am-I-getting-a-big-credit-card-bill blog post.

Monday night at Bear Paws and Hollyhocks. Maybe I should first tell you that I resisted a paper mache Firecracker Girl figure that I've been VERY tempted to buy. Not impressed? Well, it made ME feel a little more virtuous when I left the store without it! But here's what I didn't leave the store without:

The first photo is a jelly roll from the Ruby's Flower Garden by Kathy Schmitz, and then there are two charm packs from Hemming House by Brannock and Patek. I also bought some of this toille-like Christmas print:

Tonight at Quilter's Corner. First, the thing that made me feel like the evening was a good "bargain" in the long run--I won a door prize! I had my choice of several things and I picked the "mystery bag" which this year has generally been donated UFOs from the Thimbleberries Club leaders. I opened the bag to find an already-pieced fall tablerunner in "vintage" Thimbleberries fabrics, together with the fabric for the backing and binding that had already been cut and ironed. Can I hear a wooo-hooo from the crowd?! Here's a photo of much but not all of the runner which was WAAAAY too long for anything but a panoramic shot, but you get the idea:

And the stuff I purchased. Two charm packs of the Thimbleberries Christmas line, Christmas Punch.

For a long time, I've been enchanted with the stitchery designs of Bronwen Hayes, but they're hard to come by here in the U.S. Finally I got my hands on one of her books without having to pay shipping from Oz!

A couple more Schnibbles patterns--totally because I'm thinking of you guys and not for me at all! Because you know what I said the other day--as I make these Schnibbles patterns, I'll be doing drawings to give the patterns away right here on this old blog! So these probably don't really count, do they?

And check out this pattern:

This quilt is quite different from any I've made before. As I was purchasing the pattern, one of the shop owners who had made it told me it was paper pieced. Well, I don't paper piece, but it's not a very intricate little block, so I can either try the paper piecing or just do it using templates.

Okay, I think I'm done. I'm going to have to stay home, now, and play with my new toys. So it's up to all of YOU to stimulate the economy, okay? 'Cause I'm about stimulated out!