Redwork & cookies

I was bad this weekend. First, I didn't sew any binding down on any of the three quilts that are waiting on me for this final step. Instead, I started on my redwork project. I'm doing nine blocks that all have a mother goose, nursery rhyme theme. This first one is little Miss Muffet. I stitched her first because she looked like she was the least amount of work.

And this one is Old Mother Hubbard. Again, I'm stitching in order of difficulty, so she looked like the least amount of work after Miss Muffet.

I'm using three strands of red (DMC 321) embroidery thread on a bleached muslin background. The white background makes it very hard to get a good picture that isn't too shadowy, especially since today is another cloudy one.

On the bright side, this is the first embroidery I've ever done, and I really like it. On the weekends I like to have handwork (usually binding a quilt or crochet) to do while I sit on the couch and relax. Plus, I love the way redwork looks. My head is spinning now with ideas about how to update the redwork a little...turquoise thread on a brown background, white thread on black, pink or light blue on white for a baby quilt... I'm quickly thinking of more ideas for projects than I'll ever be able to complete.

Sunday I slept in and enjoyed every lazy minute of it. I even stayed in bed for 10 minutes or so after I woke up, just enjoying the feeling of slowly waking up instead of hopping out of bed and scurrying around to get ready for work. Grocery shopping couldn't be put off any longer, so I did that too. For supper, I made "To Die For Crockpot Roast" from the recipe on pg. 21 in the latest issue of the Country Register. Cindy tried it first and highly recommended it. And I second her recommendation. It meets the rule of 5's for recipes: no more than five ingredients or five steps.

And because I was already being bad by doing my redwork instead of quilt binding, I figured I might as well go ahead and crush any hopes of weight loss by making oatmeal cookies.

I love Paula Dean, but I tried her oatmeal cookie recipe a few months ago and just wasn't satisfied. I'm sure it was my failure and not hers. Afterwards, I was told by my mother and a co-worker that the recipe on the lid of the Quaker Oats is the best one, so I used that one this time. As you can see, I had much better results =)

Another one bites the dust

I've got several new things to show you, but I have made a vow to myself not to photo them until they are done, meaning quilted, bound, and labeled. So this is the first one that I've actually accomplished all of that stuff. I'm a little disappointed with the picture. I had totally envisioned this quilt hanging over the wooden privacy fence in my backyard, lit by the late afternoon sun. Alas, we've had cloudy skies for the last couple of days, with no sunshine forecasted for the rest of the weekend.

Here's a detail shot.

When I did my trunk show last night (which went really well, by the way, I didn't swallow my tongue or sprout hives or anything), it hit me that none of my quilts have labels. And I mean none. So one of my goals for, let's say, the end of the year is to get all of my quilts labeled. But since I don't actually like the idea of making a label and applique-ing (sp?) it onto a quilt, I may just sign some of them, like I did here.
I know it's hard to read since the backing is so busy, but I like the concept. I like seeing someone else's handwriting on a quilt, so I'll probably write out my labels even if I do applique a separate label. I think the handwriting makes the quilter seem more real - seeing a signature on old quilts makes it easier for me to imagine the quiltmaker. And it just seems more genuine than some computer-generated thing (not to say I won't do that on a few). Plus, if you sign the quilt back instead of attaching a label, no one can rip it off.

We woke up this morning at our house to discover we had no water. Not a great start to my day. There was some sort of problem on the city's end, and they are supposed to have it fixed by now. We'll see when I get home. There's a thunderstorm rolling in, so I'm going to snuggle up on the couch and sew binding on a quilt tonight. Maybe I'll watch a Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter movie while I sew, especially since our satellite reception will probably be touch and go. And my friend just dropped by some redwork blocks that she marked for me, so maybe I'll start on those when I get bored with binding. This will be my first attempt at embroidery, so wish me luck!

Mission accomplished

My purse is finished! And I love it! I realize it's a little Spring-y for September, but gee, I just don't care. And I think it's going to be just the right size. I haven't put all of my junk in it yet b/c I want to show if off for a little while before I go messing it up. As I may or may not have mentioned before, the fabrics are from the pink version of the Flea Market Fancy line by Denyse Schmidt for Free Spirit Fabrics (I'm working on getting this line on the shop website).

For the pockets, I borrowed a fat quarter from Heather Ross' Lightning Bugs line by Free Spirit. Polka dots - am I predictable or what? Here's a look at the inside of the bag. Four pockets total: one for keys, one for my phone, one for lip gloss, and one extra.

One of the last minute projects that got put together before the quilt show last weekend was this table runner. Pardon the shaky photography. This sucker is 56" long and it's very hard to get the whole thing in the picture! What you're not seeing is me barefoot, perched precariously on the edge of the daybed in the shop leaning over as far as I can to try to get a straight shot down at this thing. And here's a closeup of Prancer (or whoever he is).
I good friend of mine put this together for me, so I owe her one. I still need to quilt it and sew around the applique, but realistically I'll be lucky to get that done before Christmas! The pattern is by Mount Redoubt Designs, and we've got patterns and kits in the shop.

I'm visiting a quilt guild tonight. It's my first ever speaking engagement at a guild, and I'm a little nervous. However, I'm doing a "trunk show", so I should be able to talk about my own quilts without too much trouble. We'll see.

Today's output

This half-finished purse is all I have to show for today's efforts. I'm really excited about getting it finished though, because it's for ME. I've made about a gazillion of these purses (okay, actually probably only 5 or 6), but I've never made one for myself. So I took the opportunity today to start one. I know I was going to work on it this weekend, but it just didn't happen. Candy corn and crochet distracted me. I taught a class today on this bag, and everyone's turned out really cute. I wish I'd thought to take pictures...I never do until they are already gone.

On a happier note, this new fabric called BeBop from P&B came in the other day.
I haven't had the chance to take the plastic off yet, but that's on the list for tomorrow morning. The wheels in my head are already spinning with ideas for this line. Can't wait!

Quilt show

I'm relaxing my little heart out today, because the last few days have been spent in a whirlwind preparing for and vending at the Little Balkans quilt show. It was a very nice show, and everything went off without a hitch (thanks, in part, to a very late night for me on Friday night cutting kits and taking care of last minute details). Here are just a few of the quilts that I thought to snap pictures of:

It was hard to get a good picture of this one, but it is very pretty. Look at all of that detailed applique. Not my typical taste, but I couldn't help admiring it.

This quilt was right across from my booth. It is an antique Sunbonnet Sue. I don't care much for the peach sashing (which was probably a brighter orange when the quilt was made), but I love how the maker arranged the blocks. She did her best to make the quilt somewhat symmetrical so that either way you're looking at it you see a right-side-up Sue. It is also hand appliqued and hand quilted. Very lucky owner to have this in her family.

And I didn't get a chance to look up the details on this one, but I just love it. It looks very old-fashioned, even though it can't be because of the pictures in some of the blocks. It's scrappy and bright, and it just makes me smile.

And just so no one can say I don't support my local quilt guild, here are my purchases from the boutique. I was so excited to see the Christmas yo-yos already strung together in a yo-yo garland. That's something I wanted to do myself, and now I've got a headstart. I also couldn't pass up the little pouch. The fabric looks like the style that was popular when I was a kid - in fact, it may be vintage fabric (if you want to call early 1980s "vintage"). And with football season getting started this month, the purple batik checkbook cover is just the accessory I need to show my K-State pride.

I also made a dash into Wal-mart the other morning for bottled water, shampoo, and coffee creamer, but this ric-rac somehow made it into my cart also. I've never actually used ric-rac, but I'm very excited about the possibilities. Such fun colors!


And my hands gravitated toward this as I passed the Halloween aisles...


I finished several quilts just in time for the show, but I'll save those for another post. Since today is my day off, I think I'll tinker around with this fabric this afternoon. I'm thinking a purse, but we'll see what happens.

Enjoy your Labor Day!

Starting fresh

After 8 months or so of blogging on my shop's blog, I've decided to combine that blog and my personal blog. My original thought was to keep the two separate so that I wouldn't confuse customers when I'm working on a personal project (i.e. I don't have the fabric or I'm making this up and no, I don't have a pattern) or bore them with details from my personal life. But quilting is a part of my professional and personal life, and it's just too difficult to keep up with two different blogs. So I'll be using this one from now on. If you arrived here via the shop's blog, welcome!

Our local quilt guild met a couple of weekends ago to make donation quilts - some for the recent flood victims and some just to have on hand. Everyone brought orphan blocks and fabric from their stash, and we got quite a few done! These are the few I managed to snap pictures of (or that I have at the shop to quilt - yikes!).

You can't tell if from this picture, but that's a dog fabric panel with some borders...
Simple squares, but very cute...
Sue's orphan log cabin blocks...
The picture blocks in this one came from a panel I had that made into a fabric book, but this panel was at the end of the bolt and cut so it wasn't a complete panel...
These are some of my oprhan blocks from when I first started quilting. I bought a Kansas City Star pattern book (can't remember which one, but I still have it at home) and some clearance fabric and went to town making blocks. Some of these blocks were my first attempt at using templates. They weren't all the same size, but I just whacked them off. I was so glad I still had some of the blue fabric at home; otherwise that block with the blue in the center would have looked pretty odd...


And a turning twenty made out of a fat quarter pack from P&B called "Beautiful Day."
As I said, there were more that didn't get finished, including one I started that weekend that I'll devote to its own post. For now, I'm off to work on my turtle quilt.

Hello again

That's the title of a movie with Shelly Long that I used to love to watch when I was a kid. Shelly Long chokes on chicken ball and dies. Seven years later (I think) her eccentric sister performs some spell to bring her back to life, only to find that her husband had married her former best friend. I can't remember what happens for the rest of the movie - only that it turns out happy for her. Maybe I'll add it to my Netflix list and refresh my memory.

Well, lots of time has passed since I last posted. In my defense, I have been posting on my shop's blog with some regularity. But I try to keep that one mostly related to quilting or other things going on at the shop. I really just started this blog as a way to test out the blogging waters, so to speak. And no one reads this (that I know of), so it is really serving more as a diary than a blog.

Not much has changed since I posted last. The weather warmed up and then cooled back down a little. The shop is doing well, continuing to grow. I've taken up longarm quilting, and I am way behind on quilting quilts, for customers and for myself. On a recent doctor's visit (just a routine visit, noothing serious) I learned that I've gained 3 pounds since last year. We knocked out a half-wall in our house and moved our living room into the front of the house, so naturally I now have the urge to repaint the old living room, which is now the dining room. And I think I've finally decided on an idea for a quilt and new paint color for the bedroom.

As I said, nothing much has changed. Ongoing redecorating/remodeling of our home, quilt shop business, just the usual. I'll post again when it occurs to me to do so.