Repurposed

I'm always on the look out for attractive things I can use in different ways in the Sweat Shop, and I found something today I thought I'd show you. One of my friends invited me out to lunch and to do a little shopping--there was a "garage sale" at one of the quilt shops and they rented out tables where customers could sell their unwanted stash and craft items. We also stopped at a couple "vintage/second hand" shops, and we found two plate stands, one for each of us. I thought they'd make cute fabric "shelves"; in particular, I had a big stack of fat quarters and a few half yard cuts that I'd set aside for the Pumpkinville quilt. My friend suggested she might use hers to stack charm packs.

I think this makes for an attractive way to keep a "kit" instead of putting all the fabrics in a plastic bag or box, don't you?

Of course, I COULD use it to hold plates and cups and/or serve food for a party if the need arises, but in the meantime, it's functional as a fabric stand and doesn't take up more kitchen space.

Every now and then, the clutter in the Sweat Shop starts to take over, and my new purchase motivated me to spend the evening rolling fat quarters and tidying up the rest of the clutter. No sewing was done today, but I know I'll be happier spending time in the Sweat Shop again since everything's in its proper place.

Tip Two, Through the Tulips . . .

Remember Tiny Tim strumming his ukelele and singing Tip Toe, Through the Tulips? By today's standards, he wouldn't have been nearly as odd as we thought him then, would he? Anyway, when I was thinking about "tip two," my mind traveled back in time, and I couldn't resist bringing you along with me on my trip down memory lane.

When I was at the retreat last weekend, I blogged that I'd gotten a couple applique tips, but I only told you about one of them, and my friend Sandy kept asking me when I was going to talk about the other tips. So I guess this is as good a time as any.

This tip is about those points again. Like when you're appliqueing stars and such. After you prep your piece, the points have a little flag flying out the back, like you see here on this star AND on the pieces you can see on the left side of the photo:

The way Heidi--the woman who appliques for Verna and who gave us an applique lesson--treats those little flags is to trim them just slightly and then tuck them into the point. The first step is to sneak up on the flag from the opposite side of the point, as you can see here, keeping your stitches closer together as you approach the point. Then make sure you take one or two stitches right at the point.

Around now, or maybe a little before you reach the point, you can trim the flag a little bit at the tip, but don't cut too close. Now, carefully push the flag under the applique piece.

In experimenting with this, I found that sometimes using the eye of a larger needle helped to push the flag under, and then I held it under with my thumbnail while I took the first couple stitches coming back down away from the point. And sometimes it helped to come up with my needle through the background fabric first and then come up with my needle separately through the applique piece, so the thread wouldn't catch on the flag but it would keep it trapped underneath the applique.

I can see this will take a little practice, but I've been pretty happy with the way it preserves those points so far.

And now that I've passed this tip on, I'm going to expect some really wonderful points from my friend Sandy! THAT should make her think twice about being too persistent!

Courthouse Blocks

No, it's probably not what you think. You know the block pattern called Courthouse Steps? Kind of like a log cabin but different? Well, these aren't like that. I'm unofficially calling them Courthouse Blocks, though, because that's where I made them--in the courthouse.

These two blocks are for my quilt guild's opportunity quilt for next year. I made one earlier in the year and agreed to make two more when the opportunity quilt people asked. And then I just held onto them for two months without doing anything. Speaking of packing for retreats--I took these with me to Verna's retreat but I didn't work on them there either. Since our guild meeting was on Tuesday night, I was getting a little worried about how I was going to get them done in time. As it turned out, jury duty was a life saver.

Yep, jury duty time again. I've written about it before. Once again, I was on call this week and was called into the courthouse on Tuesday. From there, I was sent up to a courtroom with the first group called. After that, there was a lot of time spent sitting around in the hallway, waiting for things to happen, so I was able to stitch and finished the two blocks in time to turn them in on Tuesday night.

I'm not allowed to tell you much, but I WAS selected to serve on this jury, so I'll be hanging around the courthouse for the next couple of weeks, except on Fridays when I get to go to my regular job. How did I get so lucky, right? Ha! Actually, though, I think it's kind of interesting. This is the first time I've served on a jury, and I'm enjoying it well enough. I HAVE learned, though, that drinking a can of Go Girl during the afternoon break to ensure alertness isn't a very good idea, given the regimented nature of jury service and the lack of bathroom breaks.

Have you served on a jury? What did you think of the experience? Do you have a story to tell?

The Other Thing I Did . . .

Did I mention that at the retreat, I didn't work on a retreat project? Not at all? I planned to purchase the Abundance pattern and start making it in darker colors than the original, but I also brought a couple prepared blocks with me "just in case." So I DID purchase the pattern and I have it tucked away with the mostly Thimbleberries fabric I brought, but instead of working on that, I made the second Comfort & Joy block I showed you a couple days ago and I also finished the latest Autumn House block--I think this is number 7 for our little group.

We'll be cutting the fabric for block 8 during the first week in August, and finishing up by cutting block 9 and the borders near the end of August. I'm so pleased that we're getting near the end with this one because I'll be getting the kits for Sew Spooky and Sweetheart Houses sometime next week.

As it turns out, I've had a little extra time to stitch this week. I'll have to tell you more about that tomorrow. In the meantime, tell us about your packing personality when you go away on a retreat or vacation where you take things with you to work on: Do you overpack "just in case," do you underpack and find you've forgotten important stuff, or do you pack just what you need and work on all of it?

Quilt Show and Tell

On Saturday at the retreat, we had a bit of show and tell and I thought I'd share with you some of the photos I took. There were a lot of stunning quilts and some less than stunning photography, so what's here isn't nearly all of what was shown. Another problem the photographer (me!) ran into was quilts being held up at such odd angles because of the disparate heights of the quilt holders, that some of those photos just didn't make the cut.

The first pattern Verna designed that really brought her a lot of attention and is still a top seller today is Vintage Valentines. Here's one of the quilts made from that pattern:

According to Verna, she was teaching at Thimblecreek when she came up with a vague idea for Vintage Valentines and asked some of her drop in students if they'd be interested in joining her for a block of the month quilt. The catch was that she didn't really know what it was going to look like or how much fabric everyone would need. Her students had such an appreciation of her abilities that they all joined in. Eventually that quilt turned into the Vintage Valentines pattern.

When I began quilting, back around 1999, Thimblecreek was located in Walnut Creek and was a larger store than it is today. Part of the store was devoted to gift items and the rest contained so much fabric it didn't even fit on their many, many rows of shelves. There was a huge variety of styles, patterns, and fabric--definitely something for everyone! My quilt friends and I would make the treck to Walnut Creek--about an hour or so away--a couple times a year. It was fairly normal for us to shop for an hour and make our purchases, walk down the row of shops to the Gourmet Burrito restaurant for lunch, and then return to Thimblecreek to buy all the things we passed up the first time but had been thinking about throughout lunch.

Out of that Thimblecreek environment came a TON of talented designers, including Verna Mosquera (The Vintage Spool), Anne Sutton (Bunny Hill), and Joanna Figueroa (Fig Tree). I'm sure there were more--I just can't think of them right now.

So, anyway . . . back to show and tell.

Several quilters brought "first applique quilts" with them to share. I believe this was one of them.

Although you can't really see it in this photo, this quilt was machine appliqued, and the quilter who made it did a terrific job. Each piece is stitched down with a small machine satin stitch.

Another beauty! The woman on the left holding the quilt demonstrated the starch method of applique. She does work for Verna, which probably tells you she's a darn good appliquer!

The next two quilts fall into the art quilt category. The first one was done, I believe, in a class with Mary Lou Weidman. (Click on her name to check out her website and designs if you're not familiar with her.) Mary Lou specializes in quilts that tell the quilter's story. I didn't hear the explanation of the cow quilt but it has something to do with a hot cow and "Cowliente" (from the word "caliente").

I read somewhere about this chair quilt design--I kind of think it was a class offered at Sisters but I might be wrong. It seems to me that from what I read, the quilter takes the basic chair pattern and designs a quilt that's personal to her--her life story. This chair quilt was pretty cool. They are a bit cut off in my photo, but there are broiderie perse African animals in the border/corner areas and tropical flowers everywhere.

What do you think YOUR chair would look like?

The woman who made the chair quilt brought several others--a photographic quilt depicting the face of a child of a coworker was especially sweet, but I didn't get a photo of it--she was the first quilter to show her things and I wasn't quite prepared.

Are you interested in attending one of Verna's retreats? If so, you might be in luck: Registration for her Halloween retreat opens on July 18th, the date of this post. Just click HERE to read about the retreat and register. Good luck!

So Happy to Meet You!

Friday morning at 8:15 a.m., a line began to form outside the Alamo Women's Club, despite the fact that the attendees had been asked not to arrive until 8:45 a.m. for Verna Mosquera's retreat. But none of us could wait any longer, so we jockeyed for position to be among the first to claim our tables. Finally the doors opened and there, dressed in a white eyelet dress, a little pink sweater, and killer cute wedge shoes, stood Verna with a warm welcoming smile. The retreat had officially begun!

The room was decorated in pinks and greens--it felt a little like we mostly middle aged quilters had stepped right into a princess birthday party. I took a few photos of the room. In the first photo, Verna is still at the door greeting new arrivals, on the far right side of the photo.

Pam and her daughter, Verna's helpers, appear in the back of the crowd, behind the pink tulle "rope" separating off the mini shop until it was officially open for business a little later, after everyone had checked in.

The next photo is looking down the length of the room toward the table where Verna was set up and where demonstrations were held throughout the retreat.

I took two candid photos of Verna. One turned out blurry and in the other, she's pointing and looking at this woman's chest for some reason. Not my finest photography efforts. All I can say is it's a good thing I never aspired to become a wedding photographer. Can you imagine how many lives I could have messed up?

Besides all the creative inspiration around us, we were also surrounded by delicious foods. The next two photos are of the table that was kept supplied with beverages and treats. These are our morning snacks; we were also given ice cream on Friday, tea on Saturday, and all of the other snacks and leftovers throughout the day on Sunday.

Finally, right next to our table, atop a cloth covered piano, was the candy bar, stocked with a tempting array of sweet treats.

I took all these photos on the first day of the retreat, and at the time, I didn't know any of the women in the photos. Now, looking back at these images, I realize that during the retreat, I got to meet and talk with many of them. I know I've said it before, but I really DO believe that quilters are the nicest, warmest, friendliest people you could ever hope to spend time with!

So, I Lied

If you didn't stop by since last Wednesday or Thursday because you believed me when I said I'd be away and not blogging . . . we'll, you'll see I lied. But it was only half a lie, because I WAS away at a retreat. Staying in a hotel with a business center and computers. So I blogged. It's an addiction! What can I say?

Want to see one of the projects I worked on while I was at the retreat? It's the second block of Comfort & Joy, the block of the month that Anne Bryson of Cottons 'n Wool is making us work on hosting.

By the way, I met a few of Anne Bryson's and Anne Sutton's friends at the retreat. Unfortunately, they made me promise that what happens at the retreat, stays at the retreat so I can't say more right now. (Call me.)

And here's a recap of the first three blocks of Comfort & Joy. The fourth block will be due in a couple weeks, so I can't sit back and rest just yet.

Now that I have some photos to share, let's backtrack a little. Remember the really yummy chai latte I mentioned? Here it is:

Sitting right next to Gran's tea goodies. Beautiful, right? But innocently lurking on the top tray--at an angle I don't think you can see very well--is a dainty tea sandwich filled with beef tongue. I know--tongue is supposed to be good, but I don't know--it just doesn't SOUND like it would be. But Gran was brave and ate it. I really wish I'd gotten a photo of her face as she took the first bite--priceless! Seriously, though, there's something wrong with removing the crusts but leaving the tongue, you know? Anyway, Gran and I will be going away on another little retreat with our stitchery friends later in the summer and we're supposed to make one of the meals while we're away. We're considering tongue. It should be good for a laugh if nothing else.

At any rate, no tongue for me, thank you very much! Just a nice tomato bisque and a shrimp salad that I forgot to photograph, darn it!

The other stop we made on that first day that I forgot to tell you about? Paris Flea Market in Livermore. The shop is open one weekend a month, and our retreat coincided with the shop's open weekend. After we checked into our hotel, we headed back out. The one drawback? No air conditioning in the shop and it was a very warm evening. On the positive side of the scale, though, was that there were "gold" coins hidden throughout the store, and I was lucky enough to find one that gave me a $25 gift certificate toward my purchases. Yeah!!! I found a few things here and there--an old, small (child size) wooden bench or stair painted blue sometime in antiquity, a covered basket to keep a quilt "kit" in (I'm thinking I'll put the fabric I've set aside for Pumpkinville in it), a couple little decorative watermelon ceramic pieces for the hutch in my kitchen, and a few little gift items for a couple friends.

I kind of wanted to go back again during the weekend because I "remembered" that I'd like to look for some decorative picture frames, but we never made it back. Actually, Gran said we could go but I'd have to drive, and there was a long, VERY, VERY high and narrow overpass between the retreat location and the shop, and driving on those things (and bridges) panics me no end, so I decided it was better to just stay put. Better for my bank account too. Maybe next time.

I have more "stuff" to tell you about and show you, but it will have to wait, because I have to go back to work tomorrow and it's time for bed. Come on back then. Oh, it will be nice to sleep in my own bed again!

Faster Than a Speeding Bullet

That's how quickly the retreat is passing! Saturday was another fun day with excursions to two gift shops (both with heavy Paris and vintage influences) and In Between Stitches quilt shop in Livermore. We also had a lovely tea with Verna and show and tell. The exciting news is that Verna's working on a book, and we got a sneak peek at a few of the projects that she plans to include, although we didn't take photos--you'll just have to be patient and wait until the book comes out next Spring. You should also know that she's hoping to have a retreat around the time of the book release, so if you're interested in her designs and the new book, keep an eye on her website, The Vintage Spool. Her retreats are really marvelous!

I don't think any of that is a secret, but if it is, don't tell anyone you heard it from me, okay?

I've been surprised to find a few quilters here have read my blog. It's been fun meeting such nice people "in real life." I just love quilters, don't you?

Isn't it funny how tired a person can get from just playing around with fabric, needles, and thread, and doing a little shopping? It's a little after 9 p.m. on Saturday night and I'm ready to take a shower and turn in a little early. (Besides, I have a little chocolatty goodness waiting for me on my nightstand alongside my book--some English toffee I picked up at a sweet shop today.) We have to check out of the hotel in the morning, so I guess we'd better get a little organized tonight too.

I'll be back tomorrow--and I hope to at least have a few photos to share. See you then!

Greetings from Quilting Nirvana!

I'm checking in from lovely San Ramon/Alamo, where the weather is MUCH cooler than it has been in Sacramento. In fact, on Friday morning, we thought we should have brought sweaters with us. That's a big change from Sacramento where it's been over 100 degrees all week!

I've taken a few photos, but I'm blogging from the hotel's business center, so I can't upload anything until I get home again Sunday night. In the meantime, words alone will have to suffice.

Gran is on this retreat with me, and she picked me up on Thursday around noon. We stopped on the way to the Bay Area in Benicia at a tea room for lunch--lovely! With my lunch, I had the most delicious and beautiful blended chai tea--that's one of the photos I'll show you later.

We settled into our hotel early, both of us exhausted from day-to-day life, overtime work, and everything else, only to find our room was located below a herd of elephants and next door to a herd of rhinos--or at least that's what it sounded like. As it turned out, it was just a high school boys' baseball team in town for a tournament. If you've ever been involved with teenage sports, you probably already know how bored a group of teenagers can get cooped up in a hotel for the duration. Happily, this group of kids quieted down quickly when asked, and Gran and I got a great night's sleep.

At the retreat today (Friday), I sat in on a lecture and demonstration of the starch and glue method of applique--what I've shown you recently on my blog. Most of what was taught was the same thing I've been passing on--which was tremendously reassuring to me!--but there were a couple good tips that were new to me, and I thought I'd tell you about one of them.

There's a glue product on the market and I think it's by Aleen's called Ok to Wash it. When you are going to applique into a valley, dab just a bit on the fabric at the spot where you're going to cut into the valley, wrong side of the fabric, and then wipe it off. Wait a minute or so for it to dry just a little and then make the cut into the fabric. That little dab of glue will keep the fabric from fraying and you should end up with a nicer "V."

I haven't tried this yet, and I left my glue at home, but I'll try it soon and see how it works. The woman who demonstrated it does applique for Verna Mosquera, so you know whatever she does turns out wonderfully!

Tomorrow (Saturday) we have a couple of shopping excursions and a tea party in the afternoon, besides all the applique fun. I'll tell you about it when I can. In the meantime, I hope you're enjoying your weekend too!

Deep Valley Days

My bags are packed, and I'm ready to go . . . . But my companion called and said she was running behind schedule, so I have time to do that valley applique post I was hoping I'd get to.

Again, I'm starting this with all the prep having been done and the applique piece affixed by a bit of glue to the background (but I don't glue where the valley is). I will have ironed back the raw edges of the valley as best as I am able. Sometimes I'll use a toothpick dipped in starch to smooth the edges a bit if there are stray threads poking out, but most of the time, I just know I'll tuck them under with my needle.

As I get close to a valley, I take a stitch a little further away from the edge of the applique piece than I normally would. This will give me a little room to coax the edge under just a bit further.

There's really no photo of this, but after my stitch, I run the needle under the edge of the applique piece, pushing it under just a bit more to ensure there isn't a raw edge.

When I get to the very deepest point of the valley, I often take a couple of small stitches to make sure that if there's a tiny bit of raw edge, it's covered with my stitches, although I'm careful to make sure those stitches aren't so large that they show up much against the applique fabric.

After that, I just continue on to the next tip. It takes a little practice and a bit of patience, but I'm sure you can get it right. Remember, though, just like with the points, it may never be absolutely perfect; it's just important to get a result that looks reasonably good and won't come apart or fray with a couple washes.

Here's a photo of the back of the tree, so you can see the stitches.

And here's the front--done!