Ringo Star

that was started waaaay back in TN in ?????? in now finished!!! This was truly a lesson in paper-piecing!

Perfect?--nope
Happy with it? --yep!

Quick Trip Quilt Top

While attending a retreat last September, I was intrigued by a "Trip Around the World" quilt that was being made by an 80+ year old lady...I had never made one because I was afraid of all the square pieces and was just sure I couldn't get a decent top! I was introdeced to the book: "Quick Trip Quilts" by Eleanor Burns. Debi at "Somewhere Sewing" (http://www.somewheresewing.com/) got me the book and I started pulling baticks from my bins....I "kitted" this before retreat and it became one of my projects. Why was I so afraid of this pattern????? It totally rocks!

My top before borders...not sure what fabric(s) I am adding to make the borders? Maybe none??? I will let it hang here for awhile and see if it talks to me. If you have a suggestion--PLEASE post it!!

"At Home" Retreat

was held this past weekend for the "Ohio Quilters." I didn't know how much time I could spend in the studio since I was scheduled to work on Saturday. Well, due to the snow/ice, I got the day off on Friday and got rescheduled for Saturday, but..that also meant Hubby was home and...... (won't go there!!)

Friends, Pat and Becky, were in town so met up with them on Friday after the roads cleared. We headed to a neat quilt store, http://www.somewheresewing.com/. Didn't buy a lot--a backing, a spool of thread, and a WOW to add to the stash. Ann met us here too.

After lunch, we did a little local shopping and browsing...basically relaxed and enjoyed our time together. Dinner was a fun time with Debi and Dennis!!

I did manage to get the "Sand and Surf" top sewn together after making it home in another snow storm Friday evening~

Saturday I was so bummed after my trip was rescheduled--I couldn't contact the gals since my phone just wouldn't work....grrrrrrr (it did reset itself late Saturday afternoon, was it due to the weather?????)and meet up with them. So, I decided it was a good time to work on binding a quilt. I could easily do this while the laundry was being done:

Didn't accomplish all I had wanted to in the studio but I am pretty happy with this much done! It seems I never get much done during "home retreats!)"

Irene

Flannel Quilt

is finished!
Pattern: One Block Quilt

I changed the borders on this quilt as I didn't have enough of the creams and greens to make the HST's the pattern called for.

Flannel anyone?

Going through some older magazines, I found a pattern called "One Block Quilt" in the Spring 2008 issue of Easy Quilts. When we changed out the summer quilts to the fall/winter ones, we discovered that we were one flannel quilt short! Don't know how that happened as I've been making flannel quilts for what seems forever!

Anyway, this week we have the beginnings of another flannel quilt on the design wall. I know I don't have enough of the greens to do the border shown in the pattern so will keep digging in the totes for something--or use the piece I found while shopping a the Fabric Shack this past weekend with Lesa and Kris!

Awwww...a finish!

When stressed, I piece/quilt! So since this past month has been a HIGH stress level time for me, I have used up 5 1/2 yards of stash fabric, a backing, and some batting. I only purchaed 2 1/2 yards of fabric at 25% off for this quilt. If I remember corectly, I started the cutting of this quilt Oct. 1st.......Now it's in the dryer and ready to be mailed out as a gift to~~~~~~~~~

On the Wall

right now is the beginnings of a very scrappy blues/tans/creams quilt. This so out of my element!!! I am trying really hard to stay true scrappy, but......

So far I have used 5 1/2 yards of fabric pieces for the blocks all from stash! Not sure what will be used for the borders, just may have to have some fabric retail theraphy for those!

Andy's Quilt

Mr. Miller's grandmother hand-pieced this quilt top for him but didn't get it quilted before she passed. I was asked to sandwich it and quilt it......Beautiful Trip-Around-The-World!

T-Shirt Quilt

A while back I was asked to make a t-shirt quilt for a friend's daughter:

Busy Friday!

Michelle was home a few days, which I really enjoyed, and needed a few gifts for friends. She had ideas of what she wanted, but we kinda kept putting off making them! Finally Friday we knew we had to get busy!

First, she assembled a few gift baskets for gift exchanges:

Next she pulled two quilts from the "finished" cupboard to give to her break "hosts" as thank you gifts.

She also wanted to make some bulliten boards for her roommates:

We also made a "body pillow" but I forgot to take a picture--will get one on Christmas.

Busy but productive 2.5 hours!!! (and it was FUN!!)

OH YEAH!!!!!!!!!!

Finished another quilt!!! Another UFO bites the dust! Snow day and 2 hour delay motivated me to actually "do" something!

I will have to find the pattern again so I can tell you the name of it.....came from a magazine..but best of all it's made from my stash and it's done!

Happier with the added borders!

Back in October, I finished, or so I thought, a Civil War fabric top. I wasn't very happy with it as I felt it wasn't complete. It needed "something." After looking at different websites and pictures, pulling and discarding fabrics, I was pretty sure I'd found a solution. Took the top and fabrics and went to Ann's ( http://granfrysquiltingchaos.blogspot.com/ ). We "played" with a few ideas and finally came up with a solution--it definately needed borders!!!


before: no borders


after: added dk blue/cream/dk green


Now the next challege is to get it quilted!

A New Project.........

.............is on the design wall! Finishing three quilts last month that have been in the UFO bin,I allowed myself to start a new one. This time I'm working out of the "blue" bin.....I did buy two yards of fabric to be used as setting blocks and a possible border. If all works out, this quilt will become a gift for a "special" friend.

Saturday's fun in the Studio!

Altho the snow prevented us from doing the (hopefully) final leaf/lawn clean-up on Saturday, the day was successful!


Not often does Stacy get to come and just sew, so we took advantage of her free time! Went to town taking care of my errands, then back to the studio!
She worked on her Pineapple blocks.....................

I worked on a binding then paper-pieced ..

I love spending time with my kids! This was a real treat for me and helped the time pass more quickly! THANKS Stacy!!!!

Bustin' UFO's!!!

Decided this week I have to start getting some of my tops quilted! I am not the best quilter using my sewing machine, but I am learning!!!

Today I busted this Holiday String Quilt. Instead of buying a jelly roll, I made my own strings from my and Lesa's stash...

Third Week In October.......

............I started this quilt in 2007 as a "sew-a-long" with some gals over at http://www.quiltingaroundtheworld.com/ ...shame on me for letting this one sit for so long!!!! I finally got the binding on this week and it's done! Washed and dried, ready to be used or gifted! It's far from perfect, but I learned so much making this quilt! Definately need to work on color/fabric selection when attempting a pattern this involved! But, I do have a great feeling of accomplishment!

UFO 9-Patches

While going through the UFO block piles, I happened upon some bright 9-patches that were left over from a quilt I made for Mic a while ago and orginated as swap blocks. I still have a few left over, but here is the top that came out of them and some fabric from the stash bins. Those stash bins are slowly getting empty!!! Not sure yet, but think this will become a charity quilt once quilted...

2003 UFO Completed!

Finally I have made a quilt from blocks I won in a lotto in 2003! I have often looked at these and just didn't know what to do with them.......a few weeks ago I took them along to Ann's and she immediately thought of a way to set them! WOOOT! WOOT!!! I was one block short, so I made a block, goodness knows I have plenty of 30's fabrics! It didn't take long to set the blocks and viola! we have another quilt top! I decided last night it had to be quilted this week too...so off I went. The quilting isn't perfect but I am still learning this method called "machine quilting." But I am soooo happy to have another empty container! (at least for now :) ) Now which container do I dig into next????

WAHOO!

I finally finished my "roaming" and accomplished something again! DIL sent me a txt message inviting me to dinner last night, just stop in on your way home from work. So, ok, I stopped in for pizza and a little away time, not to mention some spoiling of the granddaughter! A beautiful evening so we spent some time outside too.

I came home fairly early because I was tired--physically, emotionally, and mentally. Thought I'd go to bed early--haha! Seeing the quilt laying there that needed the seam rippers attention really got to me, so I started removing the quilting. By about eight o'clock I was ready to start again--but, it's almost bedtime but who needs sleep?.....quick shower and then I resandwiched the quilt. Just couldn't stop so I started quilting again.

Today I have a finished quilt (needs washed yet) and another UFO is gone!

Sometimes-----

---you just have to bite the bullet and do something you just hate! I absolutely hate mending! But, Hubby has a coat he wears all winter altho it's old and somewhat tattered, but it's warm. He busted the zipper and the pockets were torn so badly, anything put into them was lost. So, while out and about with "the college kids" yesterday, I finally bought a replacement zipper.

Today, after the snow was shoveled again and the kids left...I made new pockets and attacked them...AND.....I actually replaced that zipper! Now, when he gets back from Texas, he will have his coat again :).

As a reward I made block 6 of one oof the BOM's I doing. The lighting wasn't very good today so the purples look blue.