Birthday fun !

I had a wonderful 52nd birthday and a very nice Thanksgiving, to boot ! Nov. 26th is not only mine and my granddaughter's birthdays, but it's also the day that my hubby proposed to me 33 years ago. Each year we take our picture together and put it in a special little album, and it shows the progression of all those years, and the love still shining through !

Wednesday night, we had a wonderful family dinner at my brother, John's, complete with birthday song for me, my nephew, Derek, and my brother's mother-in-law. I received a very touching card from my brother, Jim......one of those tear-jerkers, ya' know? First thing, yesterday, I opened my gift package from dearest, Wanda Gayle, and found a new quilting book, complete with specialized ruler, from a class/workshop she took in Oklahoma this year ! Fun future quilting? And then, yesterday, my brother, Jeff, came over and had the big Thanksgiving meal with us here at our humble home. Afterwards we had a little visit from Jeff's daughter, Mandy, so that we got to hold baby Alyssia, who's topping 10 pounds now, and gave us a grin and a coo ! Next, I drove hubby and myself out to catch up with one of hubby's nephews whom he hadn't re-met since moving back. Lastly, we stopped in at best-childhood-girlfriend, Shirley's, to meet her two handsome sons. What a wonderful different holiday from the quiet, just the two of us Thanksgivings that we've had the last couple of years. The day ended perfectly with a call from Germany from my loving daughter, Kelley, wherein my granddaughter, Zoe, who turned 6 yesterday, wished ME a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY !

Of course, today, I was thinking that this would have been THE PERFECT quilt camp weekend with my 'girls', back in Shawnee. I sure could use some help getting some basting done ! Have a great weekend sewing if you get the chance, JoAnn, Wanda, Terri, MaryEllen, and Mary !

Today marks 2 years exactly since my hubby's world turned upside down.....not to mention mine and Kelley's, of course. His first stroke occurred two years ago, without any warning that we took notice of. Last year, we marked the anniversary with hopes that it was nothing but recovery from here on out, and then, of course, in February, he had two more strokes. Praise the Lord that these two just affected his speech, swallow, and clarity of memory. Physically, he didn't really lose any ground. I just praise the LORD that on this somber anniversary, I still have the love of my life with me, taking our walks, sharing our holidays, and enjoying our families.

Happy Thanksgiving weekend everybody ! Enjoy your homes and families, and, of course, the leftovers !

Edit: In looking through my favorite blogger's posts (over there in my sidebar), I was led by Leslie's (Fluff and Nonsense) mom, to a blog offering tutorials for making things for the twelve days of Christmas. I agreed with Leslie's mom that the first one, the dishmat, would be very handy, as, like her, I place a folded dishtowel on top of my dishwasher for those last wet items. So, looking up some old extra blocks that I had in a shoebox, I found a towel that I didn't use, and quickly made myself a sweet little piece of piecing !

Thanks, Leslie's Mom and Edie from lifeingrace

Heaven's Gates quilt, getting better or worse?

If you recall, I started out by adding borders to just the top and bottom, but I just wasn't satisfied with the bordering I had done on the little mosaic quilt, so I removed the two borders, and replaced them with 4 in this milk chocolate brown solid.

This photo doesn't do it justice here; it actually looked really nice, but too dark.

Then after thinking that was really nice, but kindof boxed the center in more than I really had wanted, I found a lighter warm shade of tan in my stash. However, I definitely was NOT going to remove borders again !

So, I set about making myself a back, incorporating those nice, rejected borders into a stripe on the backing. Well, I was so pleased with the finished results, (you really can't get a good look at it with the duvet stripe showing through the quilt backing) that I refused to settle for a border that wasn't making me sing. So, yes, I removed those 4 chocolate borders, and replaced them with the warm tan. It's a simple border, but it had to be the right tone for me to be happy with the finished result. Now, I like it, especially how it goes with the backing.

Do you ever place your top on your backing and flip one corner over to see how you'll like it when it's a quilt? I like to do that, and with this one, I'm very pleased.

Now to find time to baste it and quilt it. Time I had today, but not energy. Still recovering from this flu, and a coughing jag with lunch left me wasted and napping. I thought I'd never get my breathing straightened out !

Tomorrow will be busy with the cornbread and pie baking, boiling of eggs, and house cleaning ! Let's hope there are more than just the two of us here when it comes time to eat on Thursday. But first, a family dinner at John and Deb's tomorrow night. If they have ham, I'm going to forego the turkey, I think, just so I'm really ready for it at my house on Thursday ! Can't wait for the eggnog and boiled custard !

Treats in the mail just make my day !

I have one of those days coming up next week (and I don't mean Thanksgiving, although, some would say that there's a turkey involved) that comes around once a year, whether you look forward to it or not, and my friend, Jodie Ann, sent me a treasure !

Recently she commented on my blog about some batting that she found a great buy on.......apparently, Fairfield Processing has re-released their old Cotton Classic Batting under the new name "Quilter's 80/20". Matters not to me what they call it, I'm just tickled pink to get my hands on it again. Soon as this yucky flu/cold leaves me, I'll be back to work, singing praises, and smiling once again ! I'll be watching to see if they slipped any changes in besides the name !

Thanks, JODIE ANN........you're a JEWEL ! (And you know how I love jewels !)

Thank you !

Thank you, thank you, all my dear blog friends, for the well wishes and prayers !

I'm still walking in favor, as there has been no throwing up, or other unmentionable bathroom trips..........................ewwwwwww.......I did mention it !

Well, forgive me, please. Just trying to say, that I'm on the mend from a very mild case of whatever this was. I felt much better this morning with the fever gone, but the afternoon walk really winded me since I still have a cough. I came home and lay down with a low fever of 100.2, and felt better again in a couple of hours........hey, I got to catch the old black and white movie, "The Shaggy Dog", so it was a pleasant two hours ! I never watch t.v. during the daytime (as the hubster controls the living room remote and my bedroom has no chair to sit in while watching) so it was kindof nice.

We've made plans for Thanksgiving with a couple of my brothers, our first Thanksgiving and Christmas back here around the family in 31 years ! Wow, what a blessing that's going to be ! Now, I just have to get germ-free by next Wednesday evening, so that I don't get anyone else sick. Please pray that hubby-of-mine doesn't come down with anything before then ! Thank you ! You all are such a part of my support system.......I hope I can help you too !

Fever, chills, achy all over.........

....yeah, a pretty unproductive week around here. I'm grumpy as all get out, and poor hubby's catching the worst of it. And he woke me yesterday with the coffee made and coffee-cake and toast ready for me. How sweet ! I couldn't face the cake, but the coffee and dry toast hit the spot.

I drug out my 20 year quilt, and have been quilting on it a little when I feel like holding my head up, but progress is so slow. Don't ever put a quilt off for this long, guys ! There are blue markings on it from a chalk marker that I know didn't come out when I used it on one of my other quilts......I'll have to try to figure out how to soak them out. In fact, there are some strange looking stains on it that I don't recognize, just from it being hauled in and out to quilt on for years. It's going to need a good long soak IF IT'S EVER FINISHED, and a huge dryer (I'll probably need to go to a laundromat, but I'll be worried that the dryer was used for "oilers" or something !)

Silly me.......that shows that I'm sick,.......worrying over something like that when I lack so much quilting on the thing as is.

Anyway, this is the portion that I still have to work on, and I have yet to decide on what to put in these paisley swags........I think they'll have to be quilted from the backside.

Well, I didn't win this time, but hope springs eternal, right ? Of course, my hope is in the LORD, Jesus Christ, so anything else is just icing on the cake !

New giveaway here......http://www.hawthornethreads.com/giveaway

I haven't gotten much done in the last two days........so, I'll just say hi and blessings to you all !

A possible setting.......

.......maybe. I DO like it ! Need to shop for some setting fabric, and I might need to make some purple blocks. I had planned to, but didn't have 6 or 7 fabrics that I like together that were as playful as the other fabrics I've used. Most of these brights are from a separate little tub of "kiddie prints" that I kept just for baby quilts. I had thought of this one as becoming another baby quilt, but this setting (which I've run across numerous times on Flickr and wish I could give credit for, but don't remember names ,) would really make the most of a small amount of block piecing. It could cover a twin-sized bed.......wouldn't that be great? By the way, it looks pieced and quilted, but isn't ............ I've laid it out on the backside of a finished quilt.

EDIT: I just rediscovered the quilt that inspired my layout and blocks. Though mine are just staight pieced, rather than round and round, I was inspired by "FROM THE HANDBASKET"'s quilt that she posted here. Oh, how I adore this quilt !

And let me just say that I am tickled plumb to death to find out that several of my friends and family members read my blog regularly ! I don't mind at all if you don't comment, but I do love that stopping by makes you feel closer to me, and maybe even inspires a project of your own once in awhile. ( I do want to see photos, though !) I miss our closeness ! ! ! ! ! ! SO MUCH ! ! !

But now, I feel you all around me when I post and I can share my days with all of you.

Playing in the rainbow !

Yes, Jackie, I try to stay busy........I feel awful on days when I don't have anything new to show for my time. I try to read, and I try to make myself get excited about cleaning house, but if you want to see me happy, find me in my sewing room, with a mess of scraps at my feet and blocks stacking up on the end of the ironing board !

Kaibashiras..........pretty socks?

I think they're really special.......I so like wearing this pair, and left them on today after photographing them.

I knitted them last summer, when I didn't have internet picture-posting access, and have forgotten to post them until now.

They're one of my very favorite pairs of socks. I can remember some people saying at the time that they were difficult to knit, but I remember not having that problem.
I believe that the pattern that I followed is here . The yarn I used was Trekking in colorway 107. I received it in a trade with ChristinaKnits. My notes tell me that I started this pair on July 18th, 2008, and finished them on July 30th, 2008. I used the Magic Loop method, with a size 2.25mm (US 1) circular needle , in the 32 inch length, from KnitPicks. I never try to match up the color bands on the two separate socks, as I love the individual look of each.

While I'm here, let me mention the giveaway that is going on over at HawthorneThreads. A wonderful purse pattern with all needed to make it, or bundles of fat quarters ! I found out about it through Dee's blog and found that when you register, you get 10 extra entries if you blog about the giveaway............well, YEAH ! We all want to find good fabric sites, right?

Quickie Sunday Post !

I crocheted this scarf this week, enjoying the process thoroughly.

My dear friend, Wanda, gave me the yarn last year along with a pattern for an Entrelac scarf. I started the Entrelac scarf, and it was a fascinating pattern to work, looking beautiful done in this variegated yarn, but the scarf wasn't reversible. I like for a scarf to be able to twist and turn without worrying about a 'backside' showing, so I reluctantly ripped out that pattern and put the yarn aside. I picked it up the other day after looking at ripple patterns, and, once I tried it with this design, I knew I had a hit.

I think the colors are just beautiful together........I'm thrilled with the finished results. I have one 50 gram skein left, so I may try to work it into a hat to match the scarf.

Bejeweled (tutorial)--sortof

I got my center made, and thought I'd share the process with anyone who might be interested.



For this baby quilt, containing 9 finished blocks, 144 squares are required, cut at a measurement of 3 1/2 inches. To make the "diamonds", I used half-square triangles, cut from 2 1/2 inch squares that had been split diagonally. This quilt required 36 of those 2 1/2 inch squares

Begin by laying out your squares into a pleasing arrangement. Each block's diamonds join up to the next block, so if the diamond is of a single color, you must lay out or choose colors for the entire quilt before beginning.

The block is pieced first as four separate four-patches.
When sewing these, press your seams so that they butt together to oppose each other. When stitching over the butted seam, stitch two stitches past the seam, back up 4 stitches, then continue forward to the edge of the pieces.



Next, remove the 3 or so stitches at the end of the sewn-over seam allowances.


This will allow you to "twirl" the seams, making a nice flat join when pressed.


The 4-patch should now be trimmed to a nice square 6 1/2 inches.

Now before sewing the triangles on to make the diamonds, I trim the appropriate corners of the block with my "Speedy Triangles" ruler. It's actually called ROTARY MATE, designed by Trudie Hughes. This ruler is from 1986 (wow, I can't believe it's over 20 years old !), so if you don't have it, you can tape off a triangle on your ruler to cut by, or make a triangle template to use (the two short sides are 1 1/2" and the long edge is 2 1/4"). If using this ruler, you are using the 1 1/2 inch speedy.

Trim all four 4-patches, as shown above. (I have yet to trim the upper right hand piece.)

Now, place triangles for "diamonds" in place.


As you get farther along, you can place the proposed block beside the already pieced ones, to assure you that the diamonds are matching up to the adjoining block, if necessary as in mine.

Take your four-patch layout to the machine, and assembly line join the triangles to the 4-patches, clipping off to put back into the proper alignment as you sew.

The triangles are oversized on purpose.......eyeball center them on the cut-off edge, and sew with the normal 1/4 inch seam.


Press the triangles toward the outside edges of the piecing.

Trim the triangle by placing your ruler along the already-trimmed edges of the four-patch.

Here is one-fourth of your finished block. Trim the other three 4-patches the same way, and lay the block out beside your machine.

Sew the top two 4-patches together, and the bottom two, the same. Join your seam as you did your original 4-patches, so that you can twirl this seam also.

And here is your finished block.

Just 8 more to go, and your top will look something like this.
I hope that you try a different color combination, as I am dying to see other versions of this quilt. I realized half-way through that this is a very popular pattern for tile floors ! The quilt that I was inspired by is here........and she was inspired by Kaffe's Moody Blues quilt.

Thanks for reading !

Just three blocks........

......that's all I got done. The first week of the month always keeps me running, doing errands, and it's just so beautiful this week, that I have to fit in a nice slow walk too !

So, I only got three blocks pieced. But, it's enough to let me see that I really like this color scheme.........who'da thunk that beige could be so pretty ?

I had this packet of bali prints in 8 different colorways from Walmart, and decided that they might work nicely.........since there's so much variety in the beige prints, I didn't want to go too wild on the 'diamonds', including mixing colors within the diamond itself. I think I'm going to be pleased with the final outcome, but I wouldn't want to use this pattern for an entire bed quilt.

My triangles are not matching up that wonderfully, but I've done a practice swatch and found that the machine quilting can hide a multitude of sins, so to speak ! That's probably what I'll do to finish this baby quilt, if I can come up with another cotton batting........HINT, HINT, JodieAnn !

Sneak Peek.....concept and cutting stage !

I've been playing with EQ5 again, after seeing the post with this lovely quilt on BeMused's blog. I asked her permission to imitate her, and she graciously wished me the best !

I have a great niece whose Mommy has beautiful taste, and has painted the nursery in shades of beige/tan. I couldn't imagine how to incorporate this into a baby quilt, but now I think I'll give this a try. It may or may not work as I have it pictured on EQ5 or in my head, but we all know that the playing is the fun part, anyway, right?

So I've cut me a nice little stack of beiges and tans, the same ones that I used as background on Seth's Monkey Tower quilt. Now, I just have to choose the '''''jewels'''''' that I'll 'set' among the mortar. In my mind, it reminds me of the walls of the gates in Heaven.

Ziggy--Zaggy.........finished !

Here are the promised photos of the finished quilt......a couple more photos can be seen on my flickr pages.

ZiggyZaggy finished--photo tomorrow

I didn't get finished in time for a good photo to be taken. But the quilt is all bound, and I'm already browsing around the 'net, looking for my next bit of inspiration. Until then,........I'll just leave you all with this older photo of my Garden Walk quilt. I ran across this photo of it today, and it just about took my breath away........such a shame to have to keep it folded up in a bin, but China and Piper come first, and they're hard on the quilts !

UPDATED Tuesday evening ! I've been knitting socks again !

I apologize that these pictures are not of the quality that I used to take in the old days of my sock-knitting, but I am so tickled to have these finished that I wanted to go ahead and get them posted.

It's been awhile since I finished any socks, and these were not as fun as ones that have an interesting design. It's the second pair that I've made for hubby, finishing his first pair immediately after his first stroke. He was fairly polite then, and accepted them and agreed to wear them whenever I told him he needed special socks for some occasion. But in the last six months, since his more recent strokes, he's shown a new interest, and kept asking when I was going to finish the second pair !

He really likes the color combination on these, as he is quite conservative. I like contrasting heels and toes, myself; it's a favorite feature on some of my own socks. The tan yarn was a gift of a partial skein, from a friend in Oklahoma (on Etsy), and I ran short at the end and had to make the second sock 2 rows shorter than the first (on paper........but it measures the same, so I may have mismarked my sheet). The toes are quite square, because he complained of tightness when I tapered the first pair like I do when I make socks for me. He's happy, though, so I'm satisfied.

The great thing is that now I can pick a fun design to try again !

Quilting-wise, I have most of the interior of the zigzag quilt machine-quilted, and need to decide upon a border quilting design.

Hubby and I enjoy seeing the changing leaves on our daily walks......

...he took quite a few photos a couple of days ago, so I'll share our walk with you.

This tree is right beside my driveway, behind our trailer.......it is the most glorious yellow.....a Maple tree, I think.

These other shots are from the little lane that leads up to our short street. It is just so beautiful, and smells so good........like wet foliage, and bark, and burning leaves, and......Tennessee ! The more beautiful shots included us, and I didn't want to expose you to our old faces........but you get the idea.

UPDATE: 9:00 P.M.

Oh, I'm tired........my back feels like it's breaking......and I'm happy ! Praise the LORD !

I just finished machine-quilting the border of the zigzag quilt. I did it in what turned out to be a plaid design...accidentally, mind you, but a happy accident. I still prefer the look of hand quilting, as it seems to be "in the quilt", rather than "on top of the quilt" (that's what machine-quilting reminds me of with that constant line of thread showing, rather than leaving the blank space between stitches like hand-quilting).

But I'm liking these ones that I'm getting done ! I think they are very nice.........the HodgePodge is on hubby's bed most every night, and by day it gives the room such a happy glow.

Ziggy--Zaggy top finished

I'm trying to be so-o-o-o-o-o good and just use fabrics that I have on hand, even though I am daily tempted with all of the luscious new fabrics that I see other quilters using online. I have 1 1/2 chests of drawers full of fabrics, and although most of my quilts seem to be made with the SAME fabrics, over and over, I am determined to continue making quilts until I have a good reason to purchase new fabric................I CAN'T WAIT FOR THAT DAY ! ! !

So, having said that, I present the newly finished baby-quilt top, Ziggy--Zaggy. I really wanted to border it in blue, a beautiful bright cobalt blue. But I didn't have a piece of that color that was big enough, so, in digging around, I found this purple. The top is finished and that 's a good thing.......I'm sure that somewhere there's a baby or child that will just be crazy about the purple.

The quilt top measures about 42 x 45 inches.......I hope I can find a piece of fabric wide enough, among my stash, to back it. You know, the older fabrics were all 44-45 inches wide, but now they measure more like 39 to 41 inches. If I was sure that I was going to machine-quilt it, I would piece a back, but I'm still debating on that decision.

Happy LORD's day

I would just like to close this day with a short post while I'm still feeling remnants of the LORD's wonderful presence in his house today. What wonderful services we had, enjoying each other's fellowship, receiving encouragement from one another for whatever comes our way this week, hearing the word of the LORD in a way that we can truly apply it to our own lives.
I looked around this morning, as we were singing praises, and saw two of my 5 brothers worshipping along with me. 3 of my daddy's kids raising their voices in gratitude for GOD's gifts.........we were not raised that way, and yet the LORD called each of us to come to him and lay down our burdens at his feet. I am SO VERY blessed ! 31 years away from my family, and when I get back to them, I find that they have joined the even bigger family of GOD !
I hope that you feel the LORD's presence in your life and thank him for that, giving him the glory for all good things. I accepted him as a teenager, 14 years old, and though I turned my back on him and walked in sin again for many years, he held true to his word and never left me or forsook my care. He helped me through many trials and troubles and fears, and though I would thank him when the 'heat was off', I didn't serve or worship him with my life.
I am thankful for the broken-ness that came about in my life, making me realize that I could not make it in this world without him; and I'm so glad that his word made me realize that asking for God's help was not right if I was not giving him my obedience and praise and worship in return.
If you are having troubles, and it's been awhile since you had a good long talk with the LORD and a good read in his holy word, take the time now to be quiet and hear his voice. Ask him, LORD, show me.......I don't know how to do this. Then wait...... HE will not let you down. It may be time to make some changes, to get some cleaning done, but, oh what gladness and lightness of heart you'll feel !
Brothers, brothers........everywhere I look ! I love thee, LORD JESUS !

PHOTO UPDATE ---Ziggy-------zaggy !

UPDATE: 'Tis the end of a very long day, filled with cutting, laying out, piecing, AND ironing. I'm beat, can hardly hold my back up straight to sit here at the computer, but I'm also happy with today's work. Hubby said that he didn't like it when I had it laid out on the sewing room floor, unpieced. But he says that it looks good now that it's pieced. I think he was just suffering from quilter's widower syndrome.....tired of being ignored ! Anyway, if you missed today's activities, you can read the earlier post down below.
____________________________________
I'm so spoiled on reading other people's happenings that I hate it when I miss a day of updating mine.......I feel a responsibility to my readers, few as they may be !
So, looky here..........I'm trying another baby quilt, inspired by this wonderful zigzag quilt that I ran across a link to on someone's blog the other day. Forgive me for not remembering where, as I have visited so many during Quilt Festival, but I think it was a blog that I follow. (Edit: I just saw that it is Erin's old blog......she now has this one http://erinjoyquilts.blogspot.com/ ) I love the fact that it's made from strips rather than triangles !

To that end, I found a rectangular tin full of strips leftover from this quilt,


and decided to see if I could use them for the zigs and zags !

Had to stop for a little pot pie and homemade chili......sounds like an awful combination, huh? Well, I had the pot pie, chicken and broccoli, and then when I was still hungry, I perused the fridge for leftovers ! It's cold today and I'm working and burning calories, so I'm gonna fuel up !

Okay, I've been back to work, and I think I'm ready to start assembling.........hubby decided to turn the heat up, and I had it laid out over the furnace vent ! Oops !......MEN !

Advice needed !

Okay, here goes................the HodgePodge quilt MAY be finished. I finished machine-quilting it this morning, and spent this afternoon and evening binding it..........................

BUT................. I want to show you how I quilted the blocks and then, that's where I need the advice of someone who makes machine-quilted quilts.

Here's the block........(the color is off because it was photographed indoors under a bedside lamp.) As you can hopefully see, the block has two skinny sides and two fat sides, surrounding the inner 4 rectangles. I quilted across the skinny borders, and through the rectangles about 1 3/8 inches apart, but not in the fat borders. I did this intentionally, so that the quilt would not be totally quilted the same all over. Each block is rotated a half-turn, so when you look at the whole quilt, one block is quilted horizontally and the next is quilted vertically.

Now, the fat strips are 2 1/2 inches wide, and my worry is that this is too wide to leave unquilted. I thought that it would provide a different texture from the skinny quilting, but now I'm afraid that when the quilt gets its wonderful 'shrunken' look from the cotton batting (after laundering), the wider areas will look too 'poofy', and just look like I was too lazy to quilt more.

I need to know if 2 1/2 inches is too wide to leave unquilted in a quilt with cotton batting. Actually, it's 80%cotton/20%polyester, Cotton Classic. I'm not really worried about it moving around, just poofing up or looking funny, unquilted. Am I making sense?

The borders are quilted pretty narrowly too, as you can see here in this shot of one corner and one end.

I had a little bit of fun by inserting just 3 sections of a nice cable braid..........I just couldn't stand not to do a little something extra in that long unpieced expanse of fabric up the lefthand border.

At this point, I'm always anxious to get a new quilt thrown in the washer and dryer for that antiqued look, and yet, right now this one is so nice and flat....no waves or puckers anywhere.....I really like that too !

Not done, ......... but so close !

China wouldn't let me quit for the day without sharing with the world that she's going to be in on the making of this quilt all the way through.

Here she is inspecting the quality of my machine-quilting. She tells me not to be a snob......that some machine-quilting IS worthy of an heirloom quilt...........just not MY machine-quilting. But this one seems to be passing muster for a snuggly........if Mama would just quilt poking that flashing thing in where it doesn't belong.

P.S. Jodie (Anonymous), you're making me think that you discovered some Cotton Classic ! Don't you get my hopes up if it's not true..............WOO HOO !

Influence !

Oh, no ! Look what you wonderful girls have me doing.............I'm machine-quilting that top I just basted (of course, I thread-basted for my normal hand-quilting, and I have to fight to keep from pulling the basting out with the walking foot !)

I don't know how it'll go, or how the finished quilt will look..........I hope it goes SMOOTHLY, and that I still love the quilt when it's all done. Send your machine-quilting vibes and mojo my way today, 'kay?

EDIT--update : A person could get spoiled on this REALLY FAST ! In a few hours time, I got the entire center of this bed topper quilted by machine. This would have taken me weeks to quilt by hand. Of course, there's a place for each kind of quilting, but it finally dawned on me today that this was not an "heirloom" top, so why not try machine-quilting it ? ! ?

I think the cotton batting is what made the biggest difference between this project and the charity quilt that I tried in April. It had a polyester batting, and the top just ran from the back, causing puckers at the end of stitching lines. I had a little of that trying to happen today, but eased the fullness in with my trusty porcupine quill/stilletto.

Pace yourself, girls and guys !

I'm on my 4th aspirin, having gone hog-wild with this virtual online quilt festival........I can't get enough, and my neck is screaming in agony at so many hours on the computer!

Remember, I keep telling myself, the festival goes until the 16th, I think it is, and hopefully the blog entries will remain up long after that !

My Blogger's Quilt Festival Entry......well, mine and a few friends !

Come, have a look at my Fall Blogger's Quilt Festival Entry. I'm off to

find yours ! Click on the link at the top left of my blog for an entire list of entries.

My best thought was to share with all of you online friends a quilt that was helped along by my "in-person" quilting gals !

Many years ago, in a medium sized town, called Shawnee, Oklahoma, there existed a very young quilt guild . Into this guild came ladies of all shapes and sizes, ages and hair color, eager to get to know each other, but frustrated at trying to remember so many names and faces. One thoughtful member hit upon the idea of meeting in each other's home once a month to get to know each other while delivering a block of choice to that month's blessed recipient. At the previous month's regular guild meeting, the chosen quilter would hand out copies of the pattern for her choice of block, along with instruction on what her chosen color scheme would be. Then, on "party night", we'd meet in their home with the finished blocks and refreshments, or, oft-times a few members would bring the fabrics and sewing machine to make the blocks right there on the spot with support from the whole gang !

Well, let me tell you that this was THE MOST FUN way to learn new faces and names, and I was blessed to be honored TWICE, as we kept this tradition going for years.

On my second go 'round, I chose this block, called "Calico Country", from a book by Judy Martin, because I love the look of the spools made from scraps, and our guild's name was "The Spinning Spools". I just requested scraps as my colors, and had the ladies sign the blocks in the lower left-hand corner.

I chose this setting for the blocks, as it allowed me to trim the individual blocks and build them up to a consistent size. I quilted it many years later, and, now that I have moved away, it is a gentle reminder of some wonderful friendships that sustained me through a lonely time away from family. Quilters do that you know.........they fill in the gaps with the batting of understanding, and keep you warm with layers of friendship.

Edit : I just read of a wonderful quilter, donating hours of her time and energy to Project Linus. She has plans to start a machine-quilting business and would appreciate our checking out her site soon. As an added incentive, she's offering an online giveaway......be sure to check out her blog at http://quiltsoflove.blogspot.com/2009/10/bloggers-quilt-festival.html

Edit II: Added bonus for late lookers

Click on the photo of the geese quilt for the story on my flickr page.

Jodie Ann, you'd be proud !

After 32 years of not driving, and 20 something years of Jodie Ann and Wanda picking me up for all quilt-related affairs, I'm finally doing it myself. If you had seen me loading those quilt poles into the back of my jeep this morning, you'd think I'd been doing it forever.......well, I have, but not in my own vehicle !

I started this day by tacking the ticking back onto the quilt boards, but then came grey skies and a few drops of rain. When the rain threatened to ruin my basting day, I called the bank where I used to practice piano lessons in the back/community room, and asked if they still had such a room, and whether or not it was busy today. The lady graciously said that I could use it all afternoon, so around 11:30 a.m., I gathered up all my supplies and headed out. This is the room where all of my friends held their bridal or baby showers when I was a young woman. I found that the bank has cut the room down to a third of its old size and are using it as a conference room, complete with a HUGE table that must weigh about 3 tons ! When the young lady realized that I needed an empty floor space, she helped me move the table, and left me to my work.

It took me about 2 hours to baste the quilt all on my own,........not bad, I think. The cotton batting fought the curved needle with every basting stitch, so I know it will be kindof slow quilting. It would hand-quilt better if I had rinsed the batting, but that shrinks it some, and I like to save that for after the quilt is quilted, to give it that wonderfulllllllll rumply look that I love.

As I loaded the basted top and the frames back into my Jeep, I couldn't help thinking how proud my friends would be of my NEW independence......(as dependent as I was on them, I always ACTED like "Miss Independence" !)

You know what though..........I still need you guys for the BEST part......doing it TOGETHER.

WISH YOU WERE HERE !